THE Luzon and Visayas grids were placed under yellow alert for several hours yesterday, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said in an advisory.
A yellow alert is issued “when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement.”
The NGCP said the yellow alert in Luzon was effective from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
It also disclosed that the peak demand for the region was expected to reach 13,902 megawatts (MW), while the available capacity was 14,950 MW.
“Four plants have been on forced outage since 2023, three between January and March 2024, and 13 since April 2024; while one other is running on a derated capacity, for a total of 1,369.3 MW unavailable to the grid,” the advisory read.
Meanwhile, the yellow alert in the Visayas grid was effective at 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., and from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The peak demand for the region may reach 2,580 MW, while the available capacity is 2,881 MW.
“One plant has been on forced outage since 2022, two since 2023, two between January and March 2024, and 15 power plants are on forced outage, while eiht are running on derated capacities, for a total of 571.9 MW unavailable to the grid,” the NGCP said.
However, as of 1 p.m. yesterday, NGCP lifted the yellow alert for the Visayas grid following the increased capacity shared by Mindanao to Visayas with the availability of STEAG 1 (100 MW) and increase in capacity of GNPK Unit 4 (138 MW).
On Monday, April 29, the agency also raised a yellow alert over the Luzon grid from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. (Luisa Cabato © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
