Luzon Grid to be placed under yellow alert Monday afternoon

The Luzon Grid will be placed under yellow alert status anew on Monday, May 6, as more than 15 plants remain on forced outage while 30 areas in the country are projected to experience “danger” levels of heat.

In an advisory, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said the Luzon Grid will be placed on yellow alert —  indicating that the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement — from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday.

The grid’s available capacity was recorded at 15,167 megawatts, which compares with the peak demand of 13,714 megawatts.

This comes as four plants have been on forced outage since 2023, three between January and March 2024, and nine since April 2024, while one other is running on derated capacity for a total of 1,406.8 megawatts unavailable to the grid.

The Department of Energy (DOE) earlier said more yellow and red alerts are expected in the coming weeks, as the country has already exceeded its projected demand given the prevailing heat levels due to the El Niño.

The state weather bureau PAGASA earlier said the heat index of 30 areas in the country may hit the “danger” level on Monday, reaching as high as 47 degrees Celsius in Dagupan City in Pangasinan, and Aparri in Cagayan.

For its part, the Department of Health (DOH) has advised the public to use alternative cooling techniques such as using a wet towel, and sprinkling water using a spray bottle to combat the heat.

The department has already reported 77 cases of heat-related illnesses from January 1 to April 29 this year, of which seven were reported deaths but were “non-conclusive” for heat stroke due to insufficient data. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News