Forty-four power plants on either forced outage or de-rated capacity compelled authorities on Tuesday to place both the Luzon and Visayas grids under yellow alert as early as 8 a.m. when 2,082.2 megawatts of power were unavailable.
The yellow alert was raised over Luzon from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. as 15 power plants and four more reported de-rated capacities, resulting in the loss of 1,532.1 MW in the region.
The same flag was raised in the Visayas from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. as 21 power plants were on forced outage and four more had de-rated capacities. Lost capacity in the grid total 550.1 MW.
According to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, the available capacity in Luzon total only 14,963 MW versus peak demand of 13,871 MW. In the Visayas, grid capacity aggregated 2,877 MW against peak demand of 2,646 MW.
In a parallel development, the Department of Energy (DOE) told the House committee on energy of continuing efforts to attain a clean, sustainable and stable power system in the country over the long haul.
Energy undersecretary Sharon Garin bared in a presentation the DOE commitment to accelerate renewable energy development and stimulate investment recovery in the energy sector.
Garin said the commitment includes accelerating renewable energy development with special focus on offshore wind (OSW), smart and green transmission system to accommodate additional renewable energy capacity beginning this year up to 2040, building port infrastructure to support OSW and other marine-based energy resource development projects, and the voluntary early decommissioning and/or repurposing of existing coal-fired power plants.
“Currently, we have engagements with various development partners in the conduct of studies on smart and green grid plans, distribution utility franchise performance assessment, futures and capacity markets, OSW map, ports and coal transition program investment plans, among others,” Garin said.
Also, the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (Philreca) said the simultaneous declaration of alerts in the national grid not only interrupted the delivery of electricity services but also paved the way for electricity rates to skyrocket, especially in areas served by electric cooperatives (EC).
In a position paper, Philreca said thinning power reserves compel electric cooperatives to secure their requirements from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) that expose them to price volatility and drastic increases in electricity rates translating to an increase of P0.40 per kilowatt hour (kWh) or 6 percent in generation cost.
For member-consumer-owners with 100-kWh monthly consumption, this means additional generation cost of P40 a month excluding value added tax, Philreca said.
To avoid this, power supply dispatch must be implemented on top of the interruptible load program, institutionalize demand-side management, development load forecasting activities, and the adoption of anti-bill shock programs.
As a way forward, Philreca said policy makers must consider harmonization of protocols in implementing manual load dropping; increasing renewable energy supply; expediting the approval of provisional authority of electric cooperatives to enter into emergency power supply agreements; and restoring the National Power Corp.’s authority to construct and operate power plants exclusively for meeting ancillary service needs only.
