Unit running but at reduced capacity

This is to clarify a news article which reported, among other things, that one unit of the Sual coal-fired power plant operated by Team Energy had tripped on June 21, “removing 550 megawatts (MW) of supply from the grid” (“Rotating brownouts threaten Luzon,” Inquirer, 6/22/12). Quoted in the story as a source was an official of the Department of Energy.

Allow us to state for the record that no such event occurred. What actually happened was that the unit in question, which is capable of generating 609 MW, was “derated” to around 400 MW. This means that it was up and running, but at a reduced capacity of 400 MW. This was due to a slight problem with our flue gas desulfurizer, a pollution-control device that significantly limits sulfur oxide emissions, allowing us to comply with standards set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. It most certainly did not experience a “trip”—contrary to the news story—which would have rendered it incapable of producing a single MW of electricity.

—FROILAN GREGORY H.

ROMUALDEZ III, head of external affairs, Team Energy Corp.

My story quoted Energy Undersecretary Josefina Patricia Asirit, as saying that one unit at the Sual facility in Pangasinan had “tripped.” Repeatedly, I clarified with Asirit during a phone interview last June 21 if the whole unit was completely out, to which she said yes, hence my report. I decided to interview Asirit, who, as an undersecretary of the Department of Energy, oversees the power generation sector and other related issues, especially as Team Energy does not normally issue statements to explain outages in its power facilities.

—AMY R. REMO, reporter, Inquirer