Updated
By Myrna Velasco
Even with the drop in
electricity demand on Saturday, Luzon grid was placed on a 10-hour yellow alert
or scant power reserve condition due to the forced outage of the Limay plant in
Bataan.
The San Gabriel plant of
First Gen Corporation was also de-rated to 210 megawatts (MW) from its 420 MW
installed capacity generation level, the Department of Energy (DOE) also
reported.
These twin incidents in
the power system prompted the declaration of a fresh round of yellow alert by
system operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) – even if
the demand had been anticipated to taper off during the weekend because most
business offices, as well as government entities, are closed.
The 10-hour yellow alert condition was raised from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and then
from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Early Saturday, NGCP’s
forecast of peak demand was placed at 9,735 MW vis-a-vis 10,277 MW of
availability capacity, leaving a very thin reserve of 158 MW. By mid-day,
demand was anticipated to peak at 9,463 MW against the available capacity of
10,063 MW, thus, reserve was still strained at just the level of 223 MW.
Evening forecast was bracing for the worst as reserve level was just seen at 20
MW, with peak demand climbing to 9,913 MW against the available capacity of
10,326 MW.
Meanwhile, the same
plants on forced outages the past two weeks were still on same status, except
for the 135-MW unit 1 of the South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp (SLTEC) of the
Ayala group which was already synchronized back to the grid Saturday morning.
For the First Gen
plant, DOE said the “the restriction will only take effect over the weekend to
give way to the necessary line pack recovery in preparation for the weekend
demand.”
It was further noted that the company’s other plant – the 1,000-MW Santa Rita
gas-fired facility – “will be operating on liquid fuel to ensure that all units
of the Santa Rita, San Lorenzo, and San Gabriel plants will be able to run on
their maximum outputs,” according to the DOE. The fuel shift though is
anticipated to result in higher priced electricity that will be fed to the
grid.
Given the incessant
yellow and red alert circumstances in the Luzon grid, advocacy group
CitizenWatch Philippines called on the DOE and the power industry players “to
explain the real power supply situation,” noting that the current
pronouncements of the department “may not be truly reflective of the current
situation as there were power interruptions.”
CitizenWatch Convenor
Hannah Viola stressed that “what is truly alarming is the disconnect about what
is being publicly disclosed and what is really happening.”
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, Senate Committee on Energy chairman, recalled a
meeting two weeks ago in which DOE officials assured him there is ample supply
of electricity reserve throughout the dry season.
“The brownouts felt by
our constituents in Luzon these past few days are totally unacceptable. The DOE
assured us even before the start of summer that there will be enough power supply
in the country. If there’s enough power supply, then how come that there are
towns and provinces in Luzon that are experiencing rotational brownouts,” he
pointed out
“Definitely, heads must
roll this time. We owe it to the power consumers to give them accurate
information on the power situation in the country. It seems the DOE
overestimated the availability of power supply,” he added.
Viola emphasized that
“Luzon grid’s insufficient power reserves have consistently left Luzon,
including the National Capital Region – either on the brink of a shortage or
saddled with rotational brownouts.”
Viola likewise said
“the situation has led not only to inconvenience among consumers but also to
increased electricity cost and economic loss, not to mention recurring fears of
collusion among power producers.” (With
a report from Mario B. Casayuran)
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