TAGUIG CITY - The Department of Energy (DOE) conducted a press conference at 1:00pm today to inform the public of the declaration of the system operator (NGCP) placing the Luzon Grid on 'RED ALERT' (for intervals 1400H to 1500H) and 'YELLOW ALERT' (for intervals 1100H to 1300H and 1600H).
SUPPLY AND DEMAND FIGURES
The DOE presented the supply and demand situation with the total projected available capacity today at 11,729 MW, relative to the projected system peak demand at 11,514 MW.
The DOE stated that the power plants in the Luzon Grid on Outage as of 31 May 2021 are broken down as follows:
• Total Planned outage = 435 MW
• Total Unplanned / Forced Outage = 1,285 MW
• Total Major Derating = 484 MW (Ilijan’s reduced output to 716 MW due to ongoing malampaya gas restriction from 835 MW in the previous week)
The details on the supply situation are:
• GNPDinginin Coal-fired Power Plant Unit 1 in Bataan, which is currently on testing and commissioning stage, has cancelled the testing activities today due to suspected tube leak. With the cancellation of the testing and commissioning activities, 668 MW of capacity were lost in the Luzon grid.
• San Roque Hydroelectric Power Plant (3x145 MW) has also started their annual planned outage for turbine inspection on 30 May 2021 and will last until 13 June 2021. This annual plant outage is compliant with DC 2020-02-0004.
• Sual Coal-fired Power Plant Unit 2 (647 MW) is currently on unplanned outage since 16 May 2021 and extended its unavailability for four weeks (expected return to service on 3rd week of June 2021) to correct the problem at the pressure control valve of the gland steam of the facility. The DOE will request detailed scope of work to understand the 4 week extension.
In order to address the high system demand in the Luzon grid and due to the increased ambient temperature because of the summer season, the MERALCO called out its interruptible load program (ILP) participants to voluntarily deload from the grid during the red alert. As of 1:30PM, 86 participating establishments have confirmed willingness to deload under ILP, equivalent to a capacity of 168 MW.
MANUAL LOAD DROP OR POWER INTERRUPTION
In order to maintain a balanced system, the system operator (NGCP) may implement Manual Load Dropping (MLD) in the following areas today, May 31, to maintain the integrity of the power system from 2PM-3PM:
o INEC (parts of Ilocos Norte)
o LUELCO (parts of La Union)
o ZAMECO I and ZAMECO II (parts of Zambales)
o QUEZELCO I (parts of Quezon)
o CANORECO (parts of Camarines Norte)
o APEC (parts of Albay)
o MERALCO (parts of Metro Manila)
These scheduled MLDs may be cancelled if system condition improves, such as if actual demand falls below projections.
MARKET IMPACT
The System Operation declared a Market Intervention effective 1304H May 31, 2021, due to generation deficiency. Manual load dropping (MLD) started at 1304H and 1311H for MERALCO and NGCP respectively. The Market Intervention is a mechanism wherein the System Operator assumes the responsibility in determining the dispatch schedule. During implementation of the Market Intervention, the prices in the Market are fixed based on administered pricing methodology, preventing further upward impact of supply deficiency to market prices
WAY FORWARD
The DOE continues to monitor the power situation and will submit the additional pieces of information for the consumers and the enforcement agencies, including the Energy Regulatory Commission, the Philippine Competition Commission and the Department of Justice, considering its long term strategy of addressing the power supply and demand situation during the summer season. It continues to remind the distribution utilities and the system operator of its contracting obligations to address the needed capacity increases for a reliable power system for its consumers.
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