Visayas Grid on Yellow Alert Amid Rising Power Demand

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol — The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) extended the yellow alert status for the Visayas Grid on Thursday, August 6, as power demand was forecast to increase by 109 megawatts (MW). In an advisory, NGCP said the extended yellow alert will be in effect from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. This means that the available power supply in the Visayas grid is just enough to meet the demand, but there is no longer a sufficient reserve to absorb any unexpected disturbances, such as the sudden outage of a generating unit or a transmission line. "There is a possibility of rotational brownouts or power interruptions in some areas," NGCP said in its advisory. Based on the advisory, the available capacity in the Visayas grid was 2,431 MW, while the peak demand was 2,335 MW. NGCP said that the yellow alert was raised at 10:09 a.m. on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Luzon Grid was placed on a red alert status from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, August 5, also due to the tight power supply situation. A red alert status means that the power supply is insufficient to meet the demand, and there is a high probability of rotational brownouts. The Philippines has been facing a tight power supply situation in recent months, with several power plants undergoing maintenance or experiencing forced outages. This has led to concerns about the reliability of the country's power supply, especially as demand is expected to increase further with the onset of the dry season. Source: Inquirer NewsInfo