MANILA, Philippines – Is the priority of Angat Dam to supply water or generate power?

A consumer group raised this question to Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes on Thursday after learning that the dam’s power generating functions were prioritized over water supply to Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

The Consumer and Oil Price Watch (COPW) stressed that this issue of priority is important to define amid the El Nino phenomenon that has substantially reduced the water level in the river.

The group stressed that power supply issues in Luzon areas should not cross over into a water supply issue for Metro Manila.

Being closely watched since December, Angat dam water levels reached an all-time low of 196.08 meters on Thursday morning. The water level is nearing the critical level of 180 meters and 8 meters short of the normal level of 204 meters.

Water supply

Angat supplies 97% of Metro Manila’s daily water needs by releasing 4 million liters of water per day

Water from Angat dam is used for 3 purposes:
1) domestic consumption of water
2) irrigation for farmlands in Bulacan and Pampanga.
3) power generation

Water from Angat is used only for power generation when water levels exceed 208 meters. If the water goes below the normal level—as the case recently due to El Nino phenomenon—it is used solely for household consumption.

According to COPW chair Raul Concepcion, Reyes should have followed the dam’s “water use” priority instead of using the dam to produce ancillary electricity.

Not ancillary power

When the water level at Angat River fell below the standard level of 204 meters, private groups composed of Manila Water, Maynilad, COPW, and local government representatives believe that additional amounts of water were released to boost the capacity of Angat hydro power plant.

This became apparent to the group during the stakeholders’ consultation for the privatization of Angat Dam last February 12 when they also learned that the power produced by the Angat plant was augmenting the supply not produced by another power plant.

When dams are used as ancillary power, more water needs to be released to generate power in case some power plants are unable to provide supply in the wholesale electricity spot market.

Manila Water and Maynilad, which are both vying for the Angat privatization deal, then offered to place flow meters in the Angat dam to measure the hourly water consumption and ensure that Napocor does not release more than the allocated water in order to augment the additional power needs of the Luzon grid.

COPW also expressed concern on the lack of secured water supply for domestic use in the coming summer months of April and May when demand for water peaks.

Power supply

Concepcion also questioned the energy department’s lack of planning, which resulted in the current energy shortage.

Last week, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) warned of a one-hour rotational brown-out due to insufficient energy supply in the Luzon grid.

“Why did he [Reyes] not schedule the maintenance of the plants during the rainy season?” Concepcion asked, adding that at below normal levels, dam waters should be solely used for domestic consumption.

The shortage was due to the depleting fuel reserves of the 600mw Malaya plant and the maintenance shutdown of 7 plants in the Luzon grid: Binga 1, Bacman 4, Ilijan A1, Sta. Rita 1, Ilijan A2, Makban 7 and Sta Rita 3.

“Given the current water levels in our dams, Reyes must ensure that water is no longer used to generate power and that government must look into other power sources instead,” COPW said in a statement.