CEBU CITY (PNA) – This city experienced longer and more frequent rotating brownouts on Thursday, even as a top Philippine diplomat on nuclear non-proliferation said nuclear energy may be a safe option to solve Cebu’s power shortage.

The power shortage in Cebu was largely due to the non-operation of the 120-megawatt (MW) Leyte Geothermal Plant which is on its fifth day of preventive maintenance.

Maintenance work on the plant is expected to last until February 10.

The 50-megawatt Cebu Thermal Power Plant I (CTPP I) is also undergoing preventive maintenance, which is scheduled until February 15.

The continued failure by the National Power Corporation (NPC) to deliver fuel to SPC Power Corporation for its 44-megawatt gas turbines in the Naga City, Cebu has aggravated the situation.

Ethel Natera, corporate communications manager of the Visayan Electric Company (Veco), Metro Cebu’s lone power utility, said there was a 150-megawatt shortage in the morning peak hours, 170-megawatt shortage in the afternoon, and a 220-megawatt shortage in the evening peak hours because of limited power generation in the Visayas.

Veco’s share of the shortage was 70.4 MW in the morning peak, 75 MW in the afternoon peak, and 100 MW in the evening.
She said the shortfall was to blame for the rotating one-and-a-half hour brownouts the other night.

Meanwhile, a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official said that as long as the right technology is used, a nuclear power plant can be a safe option to address Cebu’s power shortage problem.
But he said it could also be an expensive one.

While the Philippine government leads this year the review of the United Nations’ (UN) treaty on nuclear disarmament, Ambassador Libran Cabactulan said they are also for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, such as power generation.

Cabactulan said that contrary to what many believe, operating a nuclear power plant is safe if the right technology is used and safety measures are taken.

He said that he does not see anything wrong with Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia’s plan to consider proposals on the possibility of setting up a nuclear power plant in Cebu.

Cabactulan said the government should also set in place controls needed to make sure that nuclear technology is used only to generate peaceful uses of nuclear energy at a given limit.
He also cited the Bataan Power Plant, whose technology is now outdated.

“Imagine that Bataan was designed 40 years ago. But now there are new technologies and new ways of doing things, there are new designs, and it is really fairly safe. The question is, is it really the best alternative? I really do not know because I was told it’s very expensive to set up the facility,” Cabactulan said.