• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Visayas and Luzon grids were placed on yellow and red alerts May 23, and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines said it may implement manual load dropping (MLD), or rotational brownouts, to maintain the integrity of the power system.
A red alert was issued for the Visayas grid from 1-9 p.m., and a yellow alert from 12noon to 1 p.m., and from 9-11 o’clock last night.
For Luzon grid, the red alert was from 8-11 p.m., and yellow alert from 11 p.m. of May 23 until 12midnight May 24.
“The extension of red alert and yellow alert intervals (in the Luzon grid) is due to the reduced capacity of the Magat Hydro from 315 megawatts (MW) to 8MW (307MW decrease) and Binga Hydro from 70MW to 40MW (30MW decrease), and derated capacity of GNPD at 600MW,” the NGCP said in a 9:38 p.m. advisory.
A red alert status is issued when power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirement; while a yellow alert is when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the contingency requirement, the NGCP explained.
It added that for the Visayas grid, the available capacity was at 2,717MW while the peak demand stood at 2,657MW, as of 2:30 p.m. “Extension of red alert and yellow alert intervals is due to the unavailability of Luzon to export power to Visayas via the HVDC (High-Voltage Direct Current) submarine transmission line, then additional outages of diesel plants, and a slight increase in forecast demand.”
The Department of Energy, meanwhile, said it was closely monitoring and coordinating with the NGCP, generation companies, and distribution utilities to ensure the availability of power supply “in meeting the power demand in view of the declaration of red and yellow alert status in Luzon and Visayas grids May 23.”
It said the tight power supply conditions persisted due to the sustained high peak demands in both the Luzon and Visayas grids, with extreme temperatures and high heat indices experienced in several areas.
From April 16 to May 23, the Visayas grid recorded seven red alerts and 20 yellow alerts, the Luzon power grid experienced six red alerts and 20 yellow alerts, while the Mindanao grid had two yellow alerts on April 24 and 26, the DOE said in a statement.
It urged all distribution utilities and electric cooperatives to be ready to activate their interruptible load program to reduce the overall demand in the grid, and encourages everyone to continue minimizing power use during critical hours to help mitigate the impact of supply shortages. | CGC
