Power supply stabilizing but reserve remains ‘thin’

Sunstar Pampanga
Tuesday, July 22, 2014

MEXICO, Pampanga -- The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) Central Luzon office here said Tuesday that the energy supply condition is "stabilizing" but remains tenuous given the persisting thin reserves and unexpected outages.

Based on the data of NGCP, the entire Luzon grid has an expected capacity of 6,826 megawatts with a projected peak demand of 7,345 megawatts. The Luzon grid falls short of 519 megawatts, prompting NGCP to put the area on red alert recently. However, NGCP Corporate Communications Officer Ernest Vidal said that power situation in most areas in Luzon, including Pampanga, has normalized.

“Generally, I could say that we are facing insufficiency in energy generation because there are power plants that are still offline. Aside from offline plants, we also have others with de-rated capacity. But as of July 22, everything is stabilizing,” said Vidal.

Based on the power interruption schedule provided by the NGCP, the electric companies affected in the province include Angeles Electric Corporation, Pampanga Electric Cooperatives, and San Fernando Electric Light and Power Company.

“I cannot answer the extent of the rotating power interruption even if the power supply is going back to normal because this will all largely depend on the energy outlook on the day itself,” explained Vidal, saying that the dynamics of energy supply is very volatile.

Vidal added, however, that only the Department of Energy can address the other key specifics of power generation in the country.

Meanwhile, the Pampanga Electric Cooperative (PELCO) called on the government to address the current energy supply issues confronting the country. Aside from the affected customers, the cooperative is also facing financial difficulties because of the additional maintenance costs brought about by the thin reserves.

PELCO also added that they are facing challenges on feeding the consumers with accurate information because of the inability of the government to provide advisories ahead of time.

“We are being given so little time to prepare that’s why we were not able to inform most of the customers in advance about the looming brownouts,” said a representative from PELCO.

The NGCP said they will continuously issue advisories to inform the public of the energy situation. (Ferth Vandensteen Manaysay) source