10MW to cover surges in power demand on the Philippine island of Mindanao

This generation plant has also been designed to generate emergency power in the event of any power outage of the Villa Kananga electrical substation in Butuan, north of the island of Mindanao.
The Mindanao region of the Philippines has seen a significant increase in demand for electricity in recent years. This, coupled with its heavy dependence of over 50% on hydroelectric power, has led to frequent power cuts, especially during the driest and warmest months. To prevent power cuts, the Department of Energy has set up a modular programme of generator sets to supply power to the network during peak demand times.

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HIMOINSA has a strong presence in the Philippines through its subsidiary in Asia-Pacific, HIMONSA Asia-Pacific. Via its main distributors in the country, Prime Power Systems, Energetix, and MaxPower, the company has executed numerous projects with renowned local developers such as Megaworld, Vista, Ayala or SM.
On this occasion, HIMOINSA, through Global Power Systems GmbH, has supplied five generator sets in 40-feet containers. Two operation modes are possible for the owner and operator:
In parallel with the grid for 6 hours per day, supplying up to 10MW of power during peak periods, and in island mode as emergency power supply for the area supplied by Villa Kananga electrical substation.  

Bruno Reul | Project management & development at global power systems

The decision to work with HIMOINSA was motivated by a good reactivity of the engineering team in order to customize the solution for our client. We received a full support from HIMOINSA engineering team during engineering and commissioning. Their team in China was really helpful during commissioning of this plant in The Philippines.

Objectives: To guarantee the supply of 10 MW of PRP power to the Mindanao electricity grid for up to 6 hours per day. In addition, the plant must be ready to function on a stand-alone basis, as an emergency power supply for the area in case of a mains failure.

Solution: Five HMW-2230 T6 generator sets with MTU engines, which can work in parallel with the grid, supplying up to 100% power. All the Comap IntelliGen generator controllers are connected to the SCADA allowing a remote monitoring of the power plant.

Technical Specifications

To allow the generator sets to run in parallel, they have been fitted with Comap InteliGen controllers. All the controllers are managed via a SCADA, which optimises the operation of the plant depending on the substation's power demand.

The generator sets were connected to step-up transformers so they could adapt to the grid voltage. The medium voltage switchgear was installed in a 40 feet-container for simpler logistics. As a result, all the plant's power is concentrated at a single point that is responsible for supplying it to the grid.

Stand-alone operation. If the substation experiences a malfunction or breakdown, the power plant can switch from parallel to stand-alone operation to supply up to 3MW of emergency power to the hospital, while any damage to the substation is repaired.