Vivant deploys power for Bantayan island
Vivant Energy Corporation has deployed of a 3.0-megawatt generating set to Bantayan Island in Cebu, alleviating brownouts in the island.
The company said its subsidiary Isla Norte Energy Corporation (INEC), in partnership with Gigawatt Power Inc., had brought in the generators to beef up electricity supply for Bantayan Electric Cooperative (BANELCO), the power utility servicing consumers in the area.
Vivant Energy President Arlo G. Sarmiento emphasized that the provision of emergency power supply for Bantayan “is part of our commitment to help the social and economic development of Cebu,” and that is just an initial step for them given that the company also has long-term commitment “to provide sufficient and reliable power with the INEC power plant.”
The Vivant subsidiary firm is constructing a 23.3-megawatt diesel power plant that will supply the long-term electricity needs of Bantayan island. The power plant venture is underpinned by a 15-year power supply agreement with BANELCO.
The technology provider for the power facility is Finnish firm Wärtsilä. Upon the project’s completion, it is eyed that this will provide reliable power to more than 80,000 people in the island and will also usher in growth in economic activities in their domain.
As asserted by BANELCO General Manager Lee Rivera, “the occurrence of almost daily outages that the electric cooperative’s member-consumers have had to endure is tantamount to an emergency situation that needed to be addressed.”
The quick transfer of the generating sets, according to the power utility, had been made possible because it sought an exemption from the Department of Energy (DOE) so it will no longer conduct a competitive selection process (CSP) for its immediately needed supply sourcing.
A CSP requires a power utility to bid out its power supply procurement – and if there is an emergency situation, the energy department could provide an exemption for the mandated tendering process.
Rivera narrated that “the past several months had been a nightmare and an unfortunate experience that we wish will not happen again.”
With the power capacity shoring up in the island via the 3.0MW gensets, the BANELCO executive noted that such could address “the power supply shortage of our current power provider.”
He emphasized the added capacity is just a ‘stop-gap’ measure, “but it will greatly improve the power supply situation in Bantayan island.”