NGCP says Mindanao power interruptions temporary

MANILA, Philippines - The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the operator of the country’s power transmission highway, said yesterday the brownouts experienced in Mindanao recently by was temporary in nature.

In a statement, NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said the recent series of “red alerts” in the Mindanao grid was due to a generation deficiency caused by the scheduled maintenance of some power plants.

She pointed out that the power outages in Mindanao at that time had caused the unexpected shutdown or reduced generation capability.

The official also stressed that NGCP, as system operator, issues grid operation notices to grid users.

“Red alert” refers to the system condition when the contingency reserve is zero or a generation deficiency exists, while a “yellow alert” is a system condition where total of all reserves is less than 13.2 percent of the required capacity.  

When system reserves are more than sufficient to meet the reserve requirements of the grid, the system is considered to be under normal condition.

The system alert, and the corresponding power curtailment, if any, is lifted once demand recedes or once there is enough available capacity coming into the grid from the power plants.

During periods of generation deficiency, NGCP implements the Mindanao grid-wide power load curtailment to maintain the power grid’s security and reliability.

 “It is NGCP’s obligation under the law and its franchise to ensure that the grid operates at an optimum level with due consideration for safety, security and reliability,” Alabanza said.

“The level of curtailment is based on the Mindanao generation deficiency matrix issued to us by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. National Power Corp. (PSALM/Napocor),” she said.

“NGCP does not, by itself, determine which franchise area or distribution utility gets what portion of the available supply. We only follow a matrix supplied to us by PSALM/ Napocor.”

The NGCP official said there have been some load curtailments resulting to rotating brownouts in the region since last week.

 “Beginning Oct. 19, NGCP implemented load curtailment based on PSALM/ Napocor’s matrix when available reserve energy levels dropped to negative 12 megawatts (MW), and persisted until Oct. 24 when reserves were at negative 45 MW,” Alabanza said.

“Grid conditions improved to a yellow alert status on Oct. 25, the day one of the plants on scheduled maintenance went back online. Still, the reduced capability of other plants led to a situation where the available reserves were insufficient to meet the grid’s required contingency,” she noted.

The NGCP executive also stressed that ‘this situation is isolated.”

“It is expected that the supply situation will normalize once the plants on scheduled or emergency shutdowns are back and synchronized to the grid,” she said