Philippines:

Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda Update (Businessweek)

(Courtesy United Nations)

Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda damaged Energy Development Corp.(EDC)’s four major plants in its Leyte geothermal production field, the company said in a statement on Nov. 11. The field accounts for 56 percent of the company’s overall generating capacity, according to its web site. The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines will need six weeks to restore transmission lines damaged by Haiyan.

Leyte province bore the brunt of the storm, which slammed into the central Philippines on Nov. 8. At least 4,460 people were killed and 243,600 houses destroyed, according to the United Nations. Much of the damage was concentrated in and around Tacloban city, the capital of the province, while roads have been washed away or blocked by debris.

Cooling towers at EDC’s Malitbog, Tongonan and Mahanagdong power plants sustained damage, while the Upper Mahiao power plant may be restored “quickly,” according to the company’s statement.

The four plants have a 650.9 MWe combined capacity, accounting for 93 percent of the Leyte field’s installed generating capacity. The field contributed 7.58 billion pesos ($173 million) in sales in the first half, or 56 percent of the company’s 13.43 billion peso sales in the six-month period, according to the company’s web site.

Haiyan destroyed 248 electricity towers and 318 poles, while seven substations were damaged as of Nov. 12.

“Even if the damage is minor and EDC gets the facility on-line, it can’t deliver electricity if the transmission wires aren’t restored,” said George Ching, analyst at COL Financial Group Inc. in Manila.

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