DAVAO CITY (PNA) – At least two power barges of the Aboitiz Power Corporation that have been in full operation since their acquisition this year are being used to help ease the electricity shortfall in Mindanao.

Aboitiz Power president and CEO Erramon Aboitiz said Power Barge (PB) 117 and PB 118 each have a generating capacity of 100 megawatts (mW).

Aboitiz said PB 117 is moored in Agusan del Norte, while PB 118 is moored in the province of Compostella Valley.

He said Mindanao draws 70 percent of its energy requirements from hydropower, making it prone to seasonal changes and disturbances like the El Niño phenomenon.

PB 117 and PB 118 are like “floating power plants” that can be towed to different areas where electricity is needed.

Both are boats that carry power plants and are connected to the Mindanao Grid through a substation of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

Aboitiz Power took the risk of operating both power barges even without an actual approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) of the supply contracts in order to mitigate the supply deficit in Mindanao and lessen the rotating brownouts.

Aboitiz Power acquired PB 117 and PB 118 through wholly-owned subsidiary Therma Marine, Inc. (TMI) after it won a negotiated bid conducted by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation last year.

Running the PB 117 and PB 118, however, were only part of the solution in addressing the electricity shortfall in Mindanao, Aboitiz said.

“Additional investment in generating facilities has to be attracted to the island and we think having the WESM (wholesale spot electricity market) operating in the Mindanao Grid is a prerequisite to any new capacity coming in. We firmly believe that a market and competitive environment will attract the required capacity for the Mindanao grid,” he said.