Luzon grid faces power outages as 19 plants shut off

By Manila Standard Business – April 16, 2024, 10:37 am

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) announced a red alert status for the Luzon grid Tuesday, warning of possible power outages between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. due to outages at 19 power plants.

The announcement comes as Metro Manila grapples with scorching heat.

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is encouraging participants in its Interruptible Load Program (ILP) to utilize their backup generators to lessen demand and prevent a blackout.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and will provide updates as soon as they become available,” Meralco said in a statement. “In the meantime, we stand ready to implement manual load dropping 9MLD) or rotating power interruptions if necessary to fulfill our responsibility of managing the grid.”

NGCP also issued a yellow alert for the Luzon grid from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Luzon’s available capacity is 13,537 megawatts (MW) compared to a peak demand of 13,024 MW.

According to NGCP, 19 power plants are undergoing forced outages, while three others have derated capacities, resulting in a total of 2,117.3 MW unavailable to the grid.

A red alert is declared when the power supply is inadequate to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirements. A yellow alert signifies that the operating margin is insufficient to meet the contingency requirement of the transmission grid.

NGCP also placed the Visayas grid on yellow alert from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The Visayas grid has an available capacity of 2,742 MW versus a peak demand of 2,440 MW. NGCP reported that 12 power plants are on forced outage, while five others have derated capacities, making a total of 676.5 MW unavailable to the Visayas grid.