Gencos must sked plant outages for 3 years

By Lenie Lectura - March 12, 2020
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/03/12/gencos-must-sked-plant-outages-for-3-years/


ENERGY Secretary Alfonso Cusi has signed a department circular that requires all power generation companies to submit the schedule of their plant outages for three years.

“All generating companies shall submit three-year planned outage schedules for their power plants to the NGCP [National Grid Corp. of the Philippines] in accordance with the PGC [Philippine Grid Code],” stated DOE Circular 2020-02-0004.

In a nutshell, the circular is meant to provide guidelines for the planned outage schedules of power plants and transmission facilities, and the publication of the Grid Operating and Maintenance Program (GOMP).

Prior to the issuance of the circular, power generation companies submitted to the NGCP their planned maintenance schedule every year.

The circular also states that NGCP and the Market Operator (MO) will devise a mechanism to come up with an optimal generation and transmission planned outage schedule, which will be the basis of the GOMP.

The agency has been saying that no power plant should conduct maintenance activities during summer months when demand for electricity is at its peak. In the circular, only hydroelectric plants are allowed to conduct maintenance during the peak quarter, added the DOE.

After which, the NGCP will submit on the last day of October of each year the GOMP to the Department of Energy for evaluation and approval.

The DOE, in its review of the resulting reserve profile, shall direct the necessary adjustments in the generation and transmission planned outage schedules. NGCP, the MO and the concerned generating companies shall then be informed of any changes in the submitted GOMP.

The first year of the GOMP schedule shall be considered binding, but proposed shutdown schedules may be adjusted in succeeding quarterly revisions. Any changes are subject to DOE approval.

The second- and third-year schedules will be considered indicative and reference for the medium-term power supply and demand outlook.

The NGCP is required to post on its web site the approved annual GOMP after securing the green light of the DOE.

The same circular also directs the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to issue relevant rules and regulations necessary to implement the new policy within 60 days upon effectivity.

The issuance of this circular comes after the Luzon grid experienced brownouts last year due to thin power reserves.

“A series of red and yellow alert notices were issued by the SO (system operator) in the Luzon grid during the summer period of 2019 wherein the grid had low reserve level due to substantial capacities being derated or on forced outage that lead to the occurrence of rotating power interruption in Metro Manila and some areas in Luzon,” said the DOE.

The DOE, in the same circular, also noted that the committed power generation projects and other associated transmission projects, which are expected to augment the thin reserves in Luzon and Visayas, have experienced delays in meeting the target commercial operations.

There were 50 days of yellow alert and 15 days of red alert notices issued by the NGCP last year.