NGCP: Luzon grid under red, yellow alerts; Visayas grid under yellow alert

The tight power supply situation in the Luzon and Visayas power grids continues for the fourth straight day as both grids will be placed under red and yellow alerts on Friday afternoon until evening.

In an advisory, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said red alert will be hoisted over the Luzon grid from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

A red alert status is issued when power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirement.

The NGCP will also raise yellow alert in the Luzon grid from 12 noon to 3 p.m., 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.

A yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement.

The NGCP said the Luzon grid has an available capacity of 13,594 megawatts (MW) against an expected peak demand of 13,127 MW.

“Nineteen power plants are on forced outage, while three are running on derated capacities, for a total of 2,284.3 MW unavailable to the grid,” the NGCP said.

Meanwhile, the NGCP will also place the Visayas grid under yellow alert from 12 noon to 4 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The Visayas grid has an available capacity of 2,614 MW against an expected peak demand of 2,445 MW.

The grid operator said 15 power plants are on forced outage, while 10 others are running on derated capacities, for a total of 736.7 MW unavailable to the Visayas grid.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has begun its preliminary investigation into the series of red and yellow alerts hoisted over Luzon and Visayas grids this week.

ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said the power industry regulator  is still collating information from the various plants as well as from the NGCP. 

“After our initial evaluation, we can then decide if there is ground to formalize the investigation for purposes of determination of liabilities and imposition of penalties,” Dimalanta earlier said.

“We are still conducting our preliminary investigation and then will call on the plants and NGCP for vetting,” she added. —KBK, GMA Integrated News