Visayas Grid Under Red Alert Due to Tight Supply; Power Interruptions Possible

Power interruptions may occur from afternoon until evening as red and yellow alert statuses are declared over the Visayas grid due to tight energy supply, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said on Thursday, September 24. In an advisory, the red alert status is up from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. The yellow alert status, on the other hand, would be in effect from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. The Visayas grid is currently running with an available capacity of 2,292 megawatts (MW) against a peak demand of 2,495 MW. The red and yellow alert status declarations are due to the unavailability of several large coal plants in the Visayas: Therma Visayas, Inc. Unit 1, Panay Energy Development Corp. Unit 3, and KEPCO SPC Power Corporation Unit 2. The grid operator also cited the temporary unavailability of power import from Luzon due to the requested emergency shutdown of Tabango-Kananga 230kV Line 2 by customer to undertake emergency repairs of their defective equipment. A red alert status is issued when power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirement. Meanwhile, a yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement. To address the thinning energy reserves in the Visayas grid, the Department of Energy (DOE) earlier ordered the NGCP to install over 250 megawatts of battery energy storage system. The DOE is also mulling to tap liquid fuel facilities to help power up the grid. — RSJ,GMA News