MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) and the Department of Energy (DoE) have called on more companies to enroll in the interruptible load program (ILP) in preparation for the summer months when power demand usually surges.
“We aim to recruit more ILP participants and increase the available de-loading capacity under ILP,” said Ma. Cecilia M. Domingo, Meralco’s vice-president and head for enterprise and national government, in a statement on Wednesday.
ILP participants are large power users that have their own generating facilities. These entities stop drawing power from the grid for a time by tapping their own generators, reducing the overall demand from the grid. Meralco taps its ILP participants when a red alert is declared by the grid operator, reducing electricity drawn from the system.
The power distributor said that it is counting on big power consumers to help ensure sufficient power supply in the summer months.
Irma C. Exconde, DoE director for the Electric Power Industry Management Bureau, said that for 2023, the power situation would include a two-week maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya gas field from Feb. 4 to 18, and delays in the completion of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities.
“We are already preparing for the contingencies for next year because of the challenges faced by the power sector,” Ms. Exconde said.
This month, National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) declared several yellow alerts after four power plants experienced forced outages.
A yellow alert is declared when the supply available to the grid falls below a designated safety threshold. If the supply-demand balance deteriorates further, a red alert is declared, warning consumers of rolling brownouts. When a red alert is declared, NGCP can instruct Meralco to implement manual load dropping (MLD) or rotating power interruptions to distribute the limited power supply.
The DoE in a previous statement said at least two LNG projects are on track to start operations next year. It said that the availability of LNG is vital as it is considered an important source for fuel diversification.
“Big companies, malls, hotels, buildings either have their own gensets (power generation sets) that can run, or reduce their operations, so we can avoid brownouts. This is so that small businesses and residential users can still continue with their day-to-day activities without any power interruptions,” Ms. Domingo said.
Meralco Lead Specialist for Generation and Transmission Economics Ma. Leticia Sapina said that since 2014, the ILP in its franchise area has been tapped about 26 times, preventing power interruptions for as many as 1.8 million households.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Ashley Erika O. Jose
