DOE wants NGCP to reschedule shutdowns to prevent blackouts
By Myrna M. Velasco – January 17, 2022, 2:50 PM
from Manila Bulletin
To avoid rotational blackouts during the summer months, the Department of Energy (DOE) said the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) should move or adjust the schedule of preventive maintenance shutdowns of power plants, primarily for those in the Luzon grid.
Department of Energy
“There are no foreseen ‘yellow alerts’ in 2022, with the NGCP having proposed for some amendments in the schedule of generator maintenance adjustments,” the energy department has emphasized in its statement to the media.
The schedule of maintenance outages of power plants had not been provided to the media as of this time and there are no direct confirmations yet if these have been discussed with the concerned generation companies (GenCos) given that they have been contracting foreign technical experts in advance to undertake repair work at their facilities during their planned downtimes.
According to the DOE, it convened a meeting with NGCP last Friday, Jan. 14 “to make sure that all power sector stakeholders are aligned for calendar year 2022.”
Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said “the availability of stable and reliable power supply is of grave importance…there should be no surprises this year, especially given our continuous battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, regions that have been affected by Typhoon Odette are rebuilding themselves, and of course, because we are in an election year.”
The DOE indicated that NGCP is required to submit the Grid Operating and Maintenance Program (GOMP) or the shutdown schedule of power plants on the last day of October of each year. Then from that, the department will review and may “direct the necessary adjustments in the generation and transmission planned outage schedules.”
The last publicly-issued power supply-demand outlook was as of October 2021 and the DOE sternly assured sufficiency of power supply at least within first quarter this year.
But Luzon grid already pulled a jolt on the power sector last week, when the main power grid was plunged into a “yellow alert” state despite the fact that demand was still very low at the level of more than 8,100 megawatts (MW) versus the estimated peak demand of 12,387MW that had been cast for this year.
As explained by the energy department, “a yellow alert indicates the thinning of power reserves in the grid,” and it is often raised or declared by system operator NGCP “when reserves fall below the capacity of the largest generating unit.”
For the Visayas grid, the DOE pointed out there could be “potential occurrence of yellow alerts in the absence of high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission link from Luzon, and after taking into account generator-maintenance adjustments.”
The Mindanao grid, so far, is seen to have stable service even during the summer months because of supply surplus that they are currently experiencing in that segment of the power system.
“The DOE and NGCP will continue to meet regularly as part of the preparations for the presentation of the annual power supply and demand outlook,” the DOE stated.
