BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) washed its hands off anew on the power blackout that hit Panay Island and the rest of Western Visayas on Jan. 2.
During an online forum yesterday, Engr. Christian Ereño, head of NGCP’s Visayas Systems Planning, pointed to the tripping of “multiple power plants” as the cause of the massive brownout.
“Who is to blame here? We are also interested to know why they tripped,” Ereño told the forum when pressed by participants on who should be held accountable for losses due to power outage.
The online forum aimed at providing the stakeholders and concerned government agencies with the real score behind the power outage that affected the provinces of Western Visayas.
The NGCP has been consistent in blaming Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC) Unit 1, which tripped at around noontime on Jan. 2 due to a boiler feed pump issue.
The Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC) Unit 1 and PEDC Unit 1 simultaneously tripped, citing a grid voltage imbalance.
Unit 1 of the Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC) with 83 megawatts (MW) load capacity tripped at 12:06 p.m. on Jan. 2, and after two hours or at 2:19 p.m., PEDC’s Unit 2 with an 83-MW load capacity and the Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC) with 135-MW followed.
This also includes the six other small power plants on the island.
“The unscheduled maintenance shutdowns of the largest power plants in Panay Island were the primary cause of the power interruption. We emphasize the need for improved planning to ensure sufficient generation per island with a well-balanced mix of fuels and technology,” NGCP said.
In an earlier statement, NGCP reported that with the tripping of three of the largest power-generating units and the planned maintenance shutdown of PEDC Unit 3 (150 MW), 451 MW, or 68.75% of the total 656 MW in-island generation, was lost to the Panay sub-grid.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has launched an investigation into the power outage to determine the liability of the entities that caused it. The investigation will be done in six to eight weeks.
ERC Chairwoman lawyer Monalisa Dimalanta said the power plant operators, not just the NGCP, may also be held accountable for the Western Visayas blackout.
In yesterday’s forum, Dimalanta said the investigation will focus on the “root cause” of the incident to find solutions and to avoid similar incidents from happening in other areas of the country.
Before the Jan. 2 blackout, Dimalanta said they met with NGCP in November 2023 and even discussed the recommended measures by technical personnel following a similar blackout in April last year.
“The measures included the conduct of simulation studies both on the load (consumer) and generation side, and making adjustments and improvements on protection systems to avoid similar incidents. NGCP was also required to review documentation of control and protection by power plants,” said Dimalanta.
In his presentation, Engr. Ereño presented power presentation slides indicating the timelines of the incident.
He maintained the grind condition before the blackout was in good condition before several of the power plants’ generators shut down.
Engr. Albin Kintanar, vice president for Operations of PCPC, said they met with NGCP on Jan. 8 and recommended to the latter the conduct of a study based on current grid conditions and implement headroom to ensure grid stability.
The headroom will apply until PCPC determines and addresses their unit tripping cause, target completion of analysis before Jan. 12, said Kintanar.
They also installed a bypass line from the flash tank chamber to blow down the pit to secure the turbine-generator rotor from excessive expansion and eliminate longer start-up duration during total blackout conditions./PN
