ERC enforces grid reliability indices

Manila Bulletin 
By Myrna M. Velasco 
Published: August 25, 2013 
To aptly measure if a power grid has been operating reliably, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will be enforcing a uniform system of recording and reporting on the performance of the grid based on prescribed indices.
Under Resolution No. 17 Series of 2013 issued by the industry regulator, it stipulated that it will be imposing “reliability indices that will measure and monitor the reliability performance of the grid and set performance targets for each grid.”
It said that such shall be aligned with the reliability performance indicators being crafted by the Grid Management Committee (GMC), which will then be incorporated into the “Rules and Procedures to Govern the Monitoring of Reliability Performance of Generating Units and the Transmission System.”
The proposed reliability indices were subjected to public consultation around October last year; and the same had been submitted by the GMC February this year to the ERC for its final approval.
It primarily puts into sharp focus the operational performance of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), but will also cover facilities linked to the grid, such as power generation facilities.
In the ERC-adopted reliability indices, the grid performance and state of reliability must be gauged via a formula that factors in warranted reliability performance indices.
The computation shall include planned outage factor; unplanned outage factor; forced outage factor and maintenance outage factor; as well as unavailability factor; availability factor; other outage factor; forced outage rate and extended outage factor.
On the mandated calculation of percent slippages, the ERC directed that such shall “include computation of the performance of transmission lines and transformers in terms of percent delay or ahead on Scheduled Maintenance Program versus the Actual Maintenance Program.”
On the part of the generation companies, it was specified that “if the generating plant is in the unavailable and/or derating state, the generating company must submit an event report” to all relevant parties, such as system operator NGCP; market operator Philippine Electricity Market Corporation; Department of Energy and the ERC.
The report submission must be done through the GMC “within 24 hours from the occurrence of the event,” the rules emphasized.
For system operator NGCP, it is required to come up with a Weekly Grid Operations Report (WGOR) and submit it to the ERC, through GMC, every following Monday (of each week).
“The report shall contain the Generator’s outage and derated state as well as transmission system’s outage of the previous week,” the rules said.   source