Luzon power supply declared on yellow alert

National Grid Corp. of the Philippines placed Luzon on yellow alert Thursday because of thin power reserves amid high demand as temperature peaked this year.

“Luzon grid on yellow alert from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Luzon grid is on yellow alert due to the unexpected shutdown and limited generation of power plants,” NGCP said in an advisory.

Luzon’s available capacity was placed at 10,740 megawatts, versus peak demand of 9,654 MW.

Among the plants that went on forced outage were Makban unit 5 (55 MW)  SLPGC Unit 1 (135 MW), SLPGC Unit 2 (150 MW), San Gabriel (420 MW), Malaya unit 2 (320 MW), Ilijan Block A (600 MW) and Makban 1 (60 MW).

Three plants―Makban unit 5, SLPGC unit 1 and SLPGC unit 2―went on emergency shutdown because of turbine vibration.

The San Gabriel plant suffered excitation problem while Malaya 2 reported boiler tube leak.

The Ilijan Block A and Makban unit 2 are expected to remain offline until April 30 and May 4, respectively.

Power plants that are scheduled to go on planned outage include Angat M unit 3 (50 MW), San Roque unit 3 (145 MW), Magat unit 1 and 2 (180 MW) and Pagbilao unit 1 (382 MW).

Power retailer Manila Electric Co. advised interruptible load participants about the yellow alert.

Meralco received commitment from 68 accounts equivalent to deloading capacity of around 110 MW to use their generating sets and free up capacity from the grid, if necessary.

The yellow alert, was lifted at 3:08 pm and the grid is now under normal operations.

Energy stakeholders warned of high demand during the dry months which could affect supply and power rates.