More Power Barge Inc. and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) sought the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for a five-year provisional authority for their Ancillary Services Procurement Agreement (ASPA) with Panay as the focus area.

In particular, the parties applied for the Black Start Ancillary Service (BSAS), which means during a blackout, the barge will provide energy to jumpstart the operation of generation plants connected to the Panay grid.

“More Power Barge can provide up to 24 megawatts of power to the 69 kilovolt (KV) transmission line of the NGCP in the Panay grid. That is the capacity of the power barge; it has been there since 1980. Before it was 32 megawatts, but its dependable capacity has been reduced to 24 for safe operations,” said More Power Barge vice president Randy Pastolero.

He added generation plants Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC) and the Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC) will depend on the power provided by the barge to restart their auxiliaries.

Otherwise, generation plants will have to wait for power coming from Negros to energize the grid.

“The priority of the black start service is to start up the power plants. The NGCP controls the dispatch,” he added, but the PEDC will be a priority so they can start generating power in bigger capacity for distribution utilities in Panay.

Pastolero said they hoped to have the provisional authority by September.

MORE Power Barge Inc. is the sister company of More Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) under Prime Strategic Holdings Corporation of Enrique Razon.

Councilor Romel Duron, chair of the Committee on Energy and Public Utilities, said the committee would pass a resolution endorsing the ASPA application.

“We need to endorse because this is needed. This is good for Panay,” he said.

Also joining the public hearing were representatives from the ERC, and the NGCP.

Panay Island, including Iloilo City, suffered a power outage on April 27 and 28 this year due to a system disturbance that affected the Visayas grid.Perla Lena/PNA