"So far the geothermal plants seem operational but sending power out of them is impossible due to major damage to trunk lines."
A major concern is the widespread lack of electricity in the areas devastated by typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. In the past, the area around the city of Tacloban has been rich in power. Geothermal plants on the opposite side of Leyte Island are the largest of their kind in Southeast Asia, and are a major source of electricity for the surrounding islands.
But since the storm, Leyte and neighboring Samar Island have been without electricity. Bohol Island is also largely in the dark. The cause is the widespread damage to power lines caused by the force of the typhoon’s storm surge.
“Leyte is the hardest hit,” said Cynthia Alabanza, a spokeswoman for the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, the privately owned operator of the country’s major power transmission networks. “Almost all the backbone lines are damaged. We have at latest count 118 toppled towers along eight major power highways.”
So far the geothermal plants seem operational, Ms. Alabanza said, but sending power out of them is impossible due to major damage to trunk lines.
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