DOE: Red alert on Luzon grid possible this week

MANILA, Philippines — Saying power remains insufficient amid high demand, the Department of Energy (DOE) is expecting a red alert on the Luzon grid to continue this week.

In an interview on the sidelines of an Asian Development Bank forum yesterday, DOE Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara said a red alert on the grid is “possible” this week.

Guevara said the yellow and red alerts on the Luzon grid in the past weeks were due to several power plants on forced outages and running on derated capacities.

“We’re talking to power plant (operators) and asking them to come online. As you can observe, they eventually return to operations,” she said.

The Luzon grid was placed on yellow and red alerts on Saturday, prompting distribution utility Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to implement rotational power interruptions in its service areas in Metro Manila and nearby provinces in Luzon.

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

A red alert is raised when the power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the grid’s regulating requirement.

Guevara said yellow and red alerts would be fewer in the coming weeks as consumer demand is expected to be lower with the onset of the rainy season.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Luzon grid on yellow alert from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. yesterday until midnight today.

The grid operator said available capacity in the grid was at 14,461 megawatts while peak demand was at 13,612 MW.

Among the factors that contributed to the raising of the yellow alert were the unavailability of the Angat Main, forced outages of several plants and increase in forecast demand by 600 MW.

Two power plants have been on forced outage since 2023, two between January and March this year as well as 12 between April and May. Four other power plants are running on derated capacities.

A total of 2,280.8 MW were unavailable to the grid.

With the raising of the yellow alert in the Luzon grid, Meralco called on participants in the interruptible load program to be ready for possible de-loading if the situation worsens.

“We also urge the public to continue practicing energy efficiency to help manage demand,” Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco’s spokesman and head of corporate communications, said.