The Department of Energy (DoE) said Friday that red alerts on the Luzon grid are still possible until next week if power plants do not return to service during the period.
“Iyon pong end of this week hanggang next week, makikita natin na kung wala pong makakapasok na planta, below the red line pa rin po tayo. Kulang pa rin po ‘yung ating regulating reserves at magkakaroon pa rin po tayong red alert. (If no plants go back online between the end of this week and next week, our reserves will still remain below the red line. There will be a shortage of regulating reserves and we’ll still be on red alert),” Electric Power Industry Management Bureau (EPIMB) Director Mario C. Marasigan said during a virtual briefing at the House Committee on Energy Friday.
He was citing data from the energy department and grid operator, which forms the basis for the Luzon grid’s power outlook between June 4 and July 1.
Forced outages removed 1,372 megawatts (MW) from the grid Thursday, after unit 2 of the Pagbilao coal-fired plant, units 1 and 2 of the GNPower Mariveles Energy Center coal-fired plant, and unit 2 of the Calaca coal-fired plant were declared unavailable. Meanwhile, planned outages took out 435 MW, with three units of San Roque Power Corp.’s hydroelectric power plant still down.
During the Friday briefing, Mr. Marasigan said the grid’s available capacity between June 4 and June 10 is projected at 12,049 MW, while peak demand is estimated at 11,645 MW. During this time, gross reserves are expected to come in at 404 MW.
“Hopefully, pagpasok ng mga susunod na linggo up to July 1. Magkaroon na po tayo ng mga planta na mapasok at bababa na rin po ang ating konsumo kung kaya’t matatawid po natin ‘yung red alert, hindi na po tayo magkakaroon ng rotational brownout hopefully pero nasa yellow alert pa rin po tayo. Iyan po ‘yung outlook natin for the rest of the month of June (I hope the plants are back online in the coming weeks until July 1. The combination of returning plants and lower demand will take us out of red alert status. We won’t have rotational brownouts, I hope. But we’ll still be on yellow alert. That’s our outlook for the rest of June),” he added.
On Friday, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Luzon grid on yellow alert between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. It said the operating requirement is 11,398 MW, with available capacity at 11,547 MW, and the net operating margin at 149 MW.
On June 3, the DoE announced that the Luzon grid’s return to “normal system condition” and did not expect rotating brownouts over the near term.
It said demand fell as a result of the severe weather conditions arising from the transit of tropical storm Dante.
The DoE is looking into allegations of sabotage in the simultaneous plant outages, alongside the Energy Regulatory Commission and the Philippine Competition Commission. the outages led to three consecutive days of red alerts on the Luzon grid.
A yellow alert is issued on the grid if reserves of power fll below a certain safety margin, moving to a red alert when the safety margin is depleted. A red alert will trigger rotating power outages, or brownouts, for power consumers. – Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
