Luzon, Visayas power grids under red, yellow alert

MANILA, Philippines — For the fourth consecutive day, the Luzon and Visayas power grids were placed on red and yellow alerts on Friday, according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.

According to the NGCP advisory posted on Facebook, the Luzon grid was under red alert from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday. Yellow alert was raised from noon to 3 p.m., 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Available capacity was 13,594 megawatts, amid peak demand recorded at 13,127 MW.

A total of 19 power plants are on forced outage, while three are running on derated capacities, for a total of 2,284.3MW unavailable to the grid.

In the Visayas grid, yellow alert was raised from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. and red alert from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. The available capacity was recorded at 2,484 MW while peak demand was 2,504 MW.

“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 NGCP explained.

Placing both Luzon and Visayas grids on red and yellow alert on Friday caused market prices to increase, according to the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP).

As of Thursday, market price for Luzon went up to P13.39 per kilowatt-hour, from Tuesday’s P5.55 per kwh.

Meanwhile, market price for the Visayas went up to P14.64 per kwh on Thursday, from P5.73 per kwh last Tuesday.

IEMOP noted that these prices are still subject to pricing validations, which will take place by the end of the current Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) billing month.

The country needs more power plants in the future to avoid grids being placed on red and yellow alert, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said.

The forced outage of several power plants since Tuesday has led to the Luzon and Visayas grids being placed on red and yellow alert.

“These are all important elements. If there are delays in these, it is we who suffer,” Lotilla said at a Friday press briefing.

Meanwhile, Philippine Independent Power Producers Association (PIPPA) president Anne Montelibano