NGCP to Place Luzon Grid on Yellow Alert

The Luzon grid will be placed on yellow alert between 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday due to insufficient power supply, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said.

Based on NGCP data, the available capacity as of 7 a.m. Monday stood at 9332 megawatts (MW), while the demand is projected to reach 8668 MW.

Luzon’s largest distribution utility, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) reported that nine power units are offline, namely: 382-MW Pagbilao 2, 350-MW Malaya 2, 302-MW GNPower 1, 300-MW Calaca 2, 262-MW Sta. Rita mod. 20, 135-MW SLTEC 1, 135-MW SLTEC 2, 60-MW Limay 2, and 50-MW Angat Main 2.

Furthermore, three power plants were running on limited capacity: Limay was derated from 540MW to 300MW, Malaya Unit 1 from 300MW to 130MW, and Calaca Unit 1 from 200MW to 150MW.

NGCP said the thinning contingency reserves were brought about by “insufficient power supply from generating plants.”

A yellow alert indicates that the grid has thin reserves based on the difference between supply and demand.

The Department of Energy (DOE) earlier said the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will look into the recurring yellow and red alert statuses in the Luzon grid during the last week of July.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has specifically requested the ERC to investigate “whether or not there is the existence of anti-competitive behavior by the industry players.” (PNA) JMC/FMC