BUTUAN CITY – To avert the worsening power crisis in Mindanao, the National Power Corporation (Napocor) started the operation of the 35-megawatt diesel power plant in Iligan City, it was learned Tuesday.

The Iligan Diesel Power Plant (IDPP) that was shut down for almost three weeks is now being operated by the Napocor to help ease the worsening power curtailment in Mindanao.

The IDPP has not been in operation since early February this year when water levels in dams on which hydropower facilities depend went down due to the dry spell or the El Niño phenomenon.

During series of power stakeholders’ meetings in key cities in Mindanao which was attended by Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, they asked the energy czar to start operation of IDPP to alleviate the worsening power shortage.

The IDPP started its dry-run Monday and reportedly already on-stream in the Mindanao grid Tuesday, Napocor officials said.

The IDPP could only provide 30 megawatts and is not enough to supply the needs to the Mindanao consumers, and rationing of electric supply will continue.

In their advisory Tuesday, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said the Mindanao grid continues to experience generation deficiency of up to 494 MW. This is attributed mainly to limited available capacities of hydro-electric power plants, most of which have water reservoirs that are drying up due to the El Niño.

Napocor Agus-Hydro-Electric Power plant has a total available capacity of 110 MW out of the total rated capacity of 727 MW. Pulangi Plant in Bukidnon, also owned by Napocor, is running at only 30 MW out of the total rated capacity of 255 MW.