Luzon grid on yellow alert anew

MANILA, Philippines — The Luzon grid was placed under yellow alert again yesterday as several power plants have been on forced outages and running on derated capacities.

In a statement, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said the Luzon grid was under yellow alert from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

A yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement.

Meanwhile, the Visayas and Mindanao grids were under normal condition, the NGCP said.

It said the additional yellow alert intervals in the Luzon grid were due to “the increase in forecasted demand.”

The grid operator said the available capacity in the Luzon grid was 14,457 megawatts while peak demand was 13,484 MW.

It said among the factors that contributed to the raising of the yellow alert were the unavailability of the Angat Main due to low water elevation as well as the forced outages of the QPPL, Pagbilao 2 and Sual 1 power plants.

Two plants have been on forced outages since 2023, two more between January and March this year, 12 between April and May, and six are running on derated capacities.

Last Saturday, the Luzon grid was placed on yellow and red alerts due to forced outages of several power plants including the Ilijan Block A and B.

On the same day, Meralco implemented rotational power interruptions in its service areas in Metro Manila and nearby Luzon provinces due to power supply deficiency.