Luzon, Visayas grids placed under red, yellow alerts on Thursday afternoon

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is placing the Luzon and the Visayas power grids under red and yellow alerts on Thursday afternoon.

In its grid alert status report as of 9 a.m., May 24, the NGCP said the Luzon grid will alternately be on red and yellow alert on the following schedules:

Red alert

• 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
• 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Yellow alert

• 12 nn. - 1 p.m.
• 5 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• 10 p.m. - 12 midnight. (May 24)

The alert status was issued as the Luzon grid has an available capacity of 13,531 megawatts (MW) against a peak demand of 13,597MW.

A red alert status is issued when power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirement.

A yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement.

In the Luzon grid, the NGCP said three plants have been on forced outage since 2023, four between January and March 2024, and 11 power plants between April and May 2024; while three are running on derated capacities, “for a total of 2,525.5MW unavailable to the grid.”

The Visayas grid, meanwhile, will be placed under red alert from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

It will also be under yellow alert on the following hours:

• 12 noon - 2 p.m.
• 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• 7 p.m. -10 p.m.

The Visayas grid has an available capacity of 2,588MW against a peak demand of 2,537MW.

“One plant has been on forced outage since 2022, 2 since 2023, two between January and March 2024, and 16 power plants between April and May 2024; while three are running on derated capacities,” the NGCP said.

The Visayas grid has a total of 553.1MW unavailable power capacity.

In a statement, the Department of Energy (DOE) said it is closely monitoring and coordinating with the NGCP, generation companies, and distribution utilities to ensure the availability of power supply in meeting the power demand in view of the declaration of red and yellow alert status in the Luzon and Visayas grids.

The DOE said the tight power supply conditions have persisted due to the sustained high peak demands in both the Luzon and Visayas grids. 

From April 16 to May 23, the Luzon grid experienced six red alerts and 20 yellow alerts while the Visayas grid saw seven red alerts and 20 yellow alerts.

The Mindanao grid had two yellow alerts on April 24 and 26, 2024.

Actual power interruptions in Luzon were recorded at most for one hour and 14 minutes on April 16, 2024 and not more than one hour and 18 minutes on April 23, 2024, according to the DOE.

The Energy Department added that power interruptions were even shorter in most areas. 

For Visayas and Mindanao, there were no actual power interruptions. 

“Red and Yellow Alerts need not result in actual power interruptions if the power demand can be correspondingly reduced to respond to the decrease in power supply,” said Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla.

Hydroelectric power plants in Luzon are still constrained, according to the DOE as it called on the other generation plants that are on forced outage to ensure that these facilities are back online as soon as possible.— RSJ/RF, GMA Integrated News