ERC to power generators: Explain forced outages

MANILA, Philippines — The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will investigate the recent forced outages of several power plants, resulting in the placement of the Luzon and Visayas grids on red and yellow alert.

Several power plants are on forced outage or running on derated capacity, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) announced on Tuesday.

ERC Chairperson and CEO Monalisa Dimalanta said the commission will collect information and review reports from affected stakeholders to find causes of the forced outages of several power plants.

“Based on our findings, we will formalize the investigation to determine compliance or non-compliance by the relevant stakeholders and implement appropriate measures to impose penalties on any lapses and address issues that may have contributed to the adverse situation,” Dimalanta said.

ERC is mandated to review stakeholders’ performance “to ensure compliance with reporting requirements, maintenance and technical standards,” including its observance of allowable outage limitations.

Moreover, power plant operators were directed by the commission to submit its estimated timelines for the resumption of operations.

According to ERC, around 1,179.52 megawatts has been restored in Luzon as of Thursday, from the 3,233.68 MW out of the system on Tuesday.

The Visayas grid, meanwhile, secured around 272.72 MW of restored capacity on Wednesday, from 890.51 MW on Tuesday.

“We are fully aware of the difficulties brought about by these power disruptions and affirm our commitment to a thorough investigation,” Dimalanta said.

ERC will then continue to monitor the status of capacity restoration through coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE), generation companies and the NGCP.

Meanwhile, the DOE also said in a statement it will continue to monitor the status of the power supply. Moreover, DOE gave assurance that it is coordinating with concerned generation firms for the recovery of plants on outage.

As of yesterday morning, NGCP said available capacity in the Luzon grid is 13,397 MW, amid peak demand recorded at 12,892 MW.

Meanwhile, in the Visayas grid, available capacity and peak demand as of the afternoon is recorded at