CONSUMERS have been urged to conserve energy amid the threat of low power supply yet high demand for electricity, which might result in rotational brownouts in some areas of Cebu Island.
Michael Ligalig, the government relations and regional affairs lead specialist of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) Cebu and Bohol area, told SunStar Cebu on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, that the transmission firm issued yellow alert warnings for the Visayas grid on Wednesday from 1 to 10 p.m.
Based on their data, Ligalig said the Visayas grid was operating at a projected peak demand of 2,523 megawatts (MW) from the available capacity of 2,713 MW.
He said that on Wednesday, 13 power plants and generating facilities shut down operations, while five others were running on derated capacities, or “a decrease in the available capacity of an electric generating unit.”
“Kaning mga power plants kay nag-conduct ni sila og (These power plants were conducting) maintenance activities or wala na sila naghatag power nato (were not providing power) as of now. So, kaning gitawag nato nga (this thing that we call) derated capacities meaning ang ilang gi-supply kay (their supply is) not the expected capacity,” Ligalig said.
“These facilities are located in various part of the Visayas,” he said.
Explanation
A total of 698 MW was unavailable to the grid on Wednesday, he said, while he stressed that the NGCP has no control or jurisdiction over these power generating facilities.
He explained that yellow alert is part of the warning system of the NGCP to inform distribution utilities and consumers of an insufficient operating margin.
“Yellow alert is not something to worry about because we can still tap reserve power. What we’re worried about is a red alert. Even then, the NGCP has several contingencies to minimize rotational brownouts,” Ligalig said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
He said there is no threat of rotational brownout under a yellow alert, as this only indicates that the power reserves are low.
Therefore, he said the NGCP is urging consumers to reduce electricity consumption during yellow alerts.
He said one of the reasons power consumption has gone up is the ongoing dry spell. He said more people are using cooling appliances to escape the heat.
But in the case of a red alert, which is a more severe situation, Ligalig said the NGCP will advise distribution utilities to implement manual load dropping or rotational brownouts in specific neighborhoods or regions to avoid a total blackout when the system is under stress.
He said a red alert was issued on the Visayas grid on Tuesday, April 16, from 5 to 9 p.m., but this was lifted at 9:01 p.m.
The Visayan Electric Company, on Tuesday, advised its consumers through its Facebook page that there was a possibility of a rotational brownout due to the NGCP’s red alert warning.
The power situation outlook for the Visayas on Thursday, April 18, is a potential available generating capacity of 2,533 MW with a projected system peak demand of 2,288 MW. / EHP