NGCP raises yellow alert anew over Luzon grid
THE Luzon grid was again placed on yellow alert on Wednesday amid continuing outages and limited output at some power plants, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said.
In an advisory early Wednesday, the NGCP raised the yellow alert over Luzon between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Peak demand was 13,535 megawatts (MW) against available capacity of 14,254 MW.
Some 15 power plants were classified as experiencing forced outages, with five running at derated capacity, leaving 1,765.6 MW unavailable to the grid.
The derated plants include coal-fired Masinloc 1 and Masinloc 2, as well as gas-fired Ilijan A.
The NGCP also said the Angat Main hydropower facility was unavailable due to low water levels while forced outages were declared at the Pagbilao 2 and San Lorenzo 50 plants.
A yellow is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grids’ contingency requirement.
The yellow alert for the Luzon grid was lifted by the NGCP at 1 p.m. on Wednesday.
“Early lifting of grid alert status is due to the decrease in forecast demand,” the grid operator said.
The Visayas and Mindanao grids were operating normally on Wednesday, the NGCP said.
Energy Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara has noted the possibility of a red alert this week due to continuing elevated heat and forced outages at some power plants. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera