NGCP: Rotating brownouts implemented as red, yellow alerts raised over Luzon grid

Electricity consumers across the Luzon power grid should brace for brief power interruptions on Wednesday afternoon as the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the island under yellow and red alerts amid thinning power reserves.

In an advisory, the NGCP said it might implement Manual Load Dropping (MLD) or rotational brownout in the following areas to maintain the integrity of the power system between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.:

• ABRECO (whole province of Abra)
• PENELCO (parts of Bataan)
• PELCO III (parts of Pampanga)
• BATELEC II (parts of Batangas)
• MERALCO (parts of Metro Manila)
• ALECO (parts of Albay)
• CANORECO (parts of Camarines Norte)
• CASURECO I (parts of Camarines Sur)

“Schedule may be cancelled if system condition improves, such as if actual demand falls below projections. NGCP encourages everyone to exercise prudence in using electricity,” the grid operator said.

Red and yellow alerts were hoisted over the Luzon power grid on Wednesday afternoon to evening due to forced outages of several power plants.

A yellow alert is declared when the reserve power in the grid becomes low. While supply is still enough to meet current demand, it no longer reaches the required safety margin.

At this level, the possibility of rotational power interruptions increases.

Meanwhile, a red alert is the highest alert level and is declared when the electricity supply is insufficient to meet demand because reserves are depleted.

During this status, widespread power interruptions or rotational brownouts are expected as electricity is temporarily cut in certain areas on a scheduled basis to prevent the entire grid from collapsing.

MERALCO, in an advisory, said that implemented emergency rotating power interruptions lasting an average of three hours starting 3:23 p.m. “to manage the current system condition.”

“This has so far affected more than 200,000 customers in parts of Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Metro Manila, and Rizal,” the power distributor said.

“We already requested our commercial and industrial customers under the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) to de-load to lessen the strain on the power grid. As of 3:40 PM, we have secured more than 240 MW of de-loading capacity under the ILP,” MERALCO said.

In a separate statement, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said she directed the NGCP to immediately resolve transmission constraints affecting the dispatch of large power plants and triggering yellow and red alerts in the Luzon grid. — JMA, GMA News