THE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) declared a yellow alert over the Luzon grid, the first such declaration in over a month, citing the tripping of a natural gas-fired power plant.
In a statement on Wednesday, the grid operator said the yellow alert was in force between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Wednesday after the tripping of the San Gabriel gas-fired power plant in Batangas, which has a capacity of 417.4 megawatts (MW).
Available capacity was 13,198 MW while peak demand was estimated at 12,028 MW.
The alert was lifted at 4 p.m. after demand proved lower than expected.
A yellow alert is issued 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.
A total of 1,652.7 MW was unavailable to the grid, including the output of 15 power plants on forced outage and six running below their rated capacity.
The Luzon grid was last placed on yellow alert on June 5 while red alert on June 2. To date, the grid was under red and yellow alerts for 11 and 32 days, respectively.
Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said it has advised the participants of its Interruptible Load Program to be on standby “in case the situation escalates to red alert.”
“We urge the public to implement energy conservation and efficiency practices to help manage overall demand. We will give updates as soon as needed,” Meralco Spokesperson and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga said in a statement.
In a statement, the Department of Energy (DoE) said it is closely coordinating with the NGCP and the generation companies to manage demand.
The DoE “is also urging electricity consumers to exercise judicious use of their electricity during this period to help manage the overall demand.”
Energy Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara has said that the department expects the power situation to improve with the addition of new capacity. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
