Power interruptions in some parts of Visayas seen—NGCP

Several areas in the Visayas may experience power interruptions on Thursday afternoon amid red and yellow alerts raised on the grid due to thin power reserves.

In an advisory, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said that it may implement manual load dropping in the following areas from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 23, 2024:

• CENECO (parts of Negros Occidental
• NOCECO (parts of Negros Occidental)
• NONECO (parts of Negros Occidetal)
• NORECO I (parts of Negros Oriental)
• NORECO II (parts of Negros Occidental
• LEYECO II (parts of Leyte)
• SOLECO (Southern Leyte)
• DORELCO (parts of Leyte)
• LEYECO III (parts of Leyte)
• LEYECO IV (parts of Leyte)
• LEYECO V (parts of Leyte)
• BILECO (Biliran)
• ESAMELCO (Eastern Samar)
• SAMELCO I (parts of Samar)
• SAMELCO II (parts of Samar)
• NORSAMELCO (Northern Samar)
• MORE (parts of Iloilo City)
• AKELCO (parts of Aklan)
• ANTECO (parts of Antique)
• CAPELCO (parts of Capiz)
• ILECO II (parts of Iloilo Province)
• ILECO III (parts of Iloilo Province)
• GUIMELCO (parts of Guimaras)
• MECO (Parts of Mactan Island)               
• CEBECO 2 (Parts of Cebu)
• VECO (Parts of Cebu City and Cebu)
• CEBECO 3 (Parts of Cebu)
• CEBECO 1 (Parts of Cebu)

The grid operator said it might implement MLD on the Visayas grid to "maintain the integrity of the power system."

"Schedule may be canceled if system condition improves, such as if actual demand falls below projections," the NGCP said.

"NGCP encourages everyone to exercise prudence in using electricity," it added.

The NGCP placed the Visayas grid under red alert from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.; and under yellow alert from 12 nn to 1 p.m., 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., and 10 p.m. to 12 midnight (May 24).

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.

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

"One plant has been on forced outage since 2022, two 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. — VDV, GMA Integrated News