The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is required to maintain a four percent spinning reserve or standby reserve from the total power supply to cover shortages in electricity supply, Wennie Sancho, secretary-general of Power Watch Negros, said Sunday, March 3.
Sancho said NGCP should have enhanced electric supply management, as he emphasized the notable deficiencies in the operations of the NGCP.
He explained that even though the Department of Energy (DOE) has called for preparations for ancillary services for two years, the NGCP has yet to take action.
Sancho made the statement after parts of Negros and Panay islands experienced another blackout on Friday night, March 1.
He also acknowledged the challenges in reserving electricity as it is a real-time product.
However, he pointed out the importance of having generation plants or distribution utilities with spinning reserves to address capacity shortages.
Sancho added that one of the reasons why the NGCP could not accommodate the needed power supply is because of the ongoing Cebu-Negros-Panay project.
Meanwhile, the NGCP issued a statement as to what caused the sudden blackout on Friday night.
According to the NGCP, the partial blackout was initiated by the unscheduled shutdown of all PEDC plants (Unit 1, 2, and 3) with a combined 316MW capacity, which was closely followed by the tripping of the rest of the power plants in Panay.*