Blackouts in metro as Luzon grid goes on ‘red alert’

MANILA, Philippines – The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the country’s power grid operator, put Luzon on red alert Monday, September 8, due to a power supply shortfall caused by forced outages of some plants.

As a result, Manila Electric Company (Meralco), the country’s biggest power distributor, implemented blackouts running for an hour from 1 pm to 4 pm Monday.

UPDATE: There is a tentative 1-hour rotating brownout due to power supply deficiency brought about by the (cont) http://t.co/3E77c5DL2X

— MERALCO (@meralco) September 8, 2014

UPDATE: 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM Las Piñas, Malabon, Navotas,Diliman, Batangas Area (Sto. Tomas, Tanauan and (cont) http://t.co/uf5I5fvExx

— MERALCO (@meralco) September 8, 2014

UPDATE: 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM Quezon City (Central District, Diliman, Kamuning, Cubao, Libis, Bagumbayan) Pasig (cont) http://t.co/oQtHTWeif6

— MERALCO (@meralco) September 8, 2014

The capacity in Luzon stood at 8,393 megawatts (MW) against a demand of 7,910 MW, translating to reserves of just 483 MW.

A red alert means there is power deficiency, while a yellow alert means reserves are below the minimum level set by the regulator. Yellow alert is reached when total reserves are less than the capacity of the largest plant online. For the Luzon grid, this is usually equivalent to 647 MW, or one unit of the Sual power plant.

“NGCP declared a red alert over Luzon. This was due to various plants (Calaca and GN Power) that went on forced outage, aggravated by an emergency restriction of Malampaya Gas supply, which led to a reduction of Ilijan’s output,” said Larry Fernandez, head of Meralco’s utility economics.

To mitigate the impact of the tight power supply, Meralco activated its Interruptible Load Program (ILP).

“We are calling on ILP participants to de-load and reduce power taken from the grid,” Fernandez said.

Under the ILP, private generators can sell their excess capacity to the grid to plug the shortfall.

This is not the first time that power plants went on forced outages. Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said that some of the plants have been breaking down because they are already old. – Rappler.com

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