MANILA, Philippines – The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Luzon grid on yellow alert yesterday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. over insufficient power supply after several power plants went offline.
Last week, the Luzon grid was placed on yellow alert three times due to thin power reserves as several power plants tripped.
NGCP data showed available capacity was at 10,170 megawatts yesterday while peak demand was forecast at 8,958 MW.
A yellow alert means power reserves are below the minimum level set by the regulator. In Luzon’s case, the minimum reserve is 1,294 MW, which is equivalent to the capacity of two units of the Sual plant, the region’s largest operating plant.
In its official Twitter account, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said power demand was forecasted to be higher. It also said several power plants are still out, while a couple of power facilities are either on maintenance shutdown or operating at limited capacity.
Meralco said commercial and industrial customers under the Interuptible Load Program (ILP) stand ready to use their generator sets in case of a power deficiency in its franchise area.
The power distributor also urged consumers to be energy efficient to prevent the possibility of a rotational brownout.