Rotating blackouts may last until June 7 as Luzon power supply remains thin – NGCP

CNN – Published Jun 1, 2021 4:42:28 PM

Metro Manila — Rotating blackouts may persist until Monday, June 7, as power supply for Luzon remains limited, even falling into deficit levels at certain times compared to demand from industries and households, according to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.

Parts of Metro Manila and provinces in Luzon have been experiencing power interruptions since Monday as the Luzon grid was placed on red alert because there’s not enough supply to meet electricity consumption.

“Ang outlook ay hanggang a-siyete dahil we would expect na ‘yung mga nawalang malaking planta could come in… they could normalize by June 8 pero depende rin ‘yun kung maaayos yung problema sa planta,” NGCP Luzon system operator Beng Abadilla told reporters Tuesday.

[Translation: Our outlook is until the 7th because we would expect that the big plants which went offline could come in… they could normalize by June 8 but it depends on whether they can fix the problems in their respective plants.]

Four power plants are offline as of Tuesday afternoon, the Department of Energy said in a statement, taking away 1,579 megawatts of power from the grid.

Meanwhile, NGCP data showed there’s a power deficit of 131 MW in Luzon.

Power distributor Meralco said it started rotating supply interruptions at 1:05 p.m., lasting two hours per area.

Other parts of Luzon may have no power at specific times in the coming days, although no blackouts are expected on Saturday and Sunday due to an expected decline in power demand.

However, Meralco assured they exempt areas identified as vaccination centers and cold storage facilities for COVID-19 vaccines but were told to have power generators on standby.

PhilExport President Sergio Ortiz-Luis said it’s harder for businesses to plan now as power supply is a problem on top of the COVID-19 pandemic. He laments that authorities are slow to inform customers about the occurence of outages.

NGCP Spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza, however, said that the grid has no control over power plants and also receive notices about the unplanned shutdowns by the hour.

She added that weather conditions also affect the supply and demand outlook. Hotter weather means power consumption will be higher as people turn on their fans and air conditioning units, while cooler air eases demand.

SOURCE: https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/6/1/Luzon-grid-rotating-blackouts-June-7.html?fb