The Department of Energy will further probe into these power disruptions to ensure that it will not happen more in 2023.
Those frequent yellow and red alerts that are being published every so often would not be a preview of the power supply in the National Capital Region next summer. This was the assurance given by the Department of Energy (DoE) as it vowed to lessen power supply interruptions in 2023 after another yellow alert was issued by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines because of additional unforeseen power plant shutdowns.
Energy Assistant Secretary Mario Marasigan told Business World that the power outlook for 2023 showed an adequate supply even during the dry season. To further ensure that the transmission systems and power are available though, DoE is currently preparing to make it happen.
However, he did not elaborate the measures that the agency would take in order to prevent those power disruptions.
The lack of measures being undertaken are being kept from the public, particularly for those who work and/or study whether physically or remotely. A power outage could force a worker or student to halt his activity, which wastes time.
Luzon and Visayas power grids
DoE is still investigating the cause of the recent yellow and red alerts raised across the Luzon and Visayas grids.
When the supply available to the grid falls below a certain safety threshold, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) will issue a yellow alert. A red alert will be issued if the supply-demand balance continues to deteriorate, warning of the potential for rotating brownouts.
NGCP put the Luzon power grid on yellow alert once more on Tuesday after four power plants in Luzon experienced forced outages and three others were producing below capacity, removing 2,145 megawatts (MW) from the grid.
NGCP raised the yellow alert for the 1pm – 4pm and 5pm – 6pm period. The available capacity was 11,522 MW while peak demand was at 10,612 MW, almost a thousand difference.
The Luzon grid was also placed under yellow alert on Dec. 5, Dec. 1 and Nov. 28, while red and yellow alerts were also issued for the Visayas grid on Dec. 5.
Since electricity is the widely-used energy in homes and businesses, outages can cause so much inconvenience and disruption, particularly in the countryside where power supply is severely inadequate and power outages widespread.
“Our investigation and inspections are still ongoing. We are directly coordinating with plant operators to determine the cause of these forced outages and why it takes long before they can go back into the system. We are monitoring all of these red and yellow alerts.” Marasigan said.
Meanwhile, the Energy Regulatory Commission is duty-bound to investigate the forced outages.
It would be beneficial for the agencies to place more emphasis on renewable energy initiatives for more power sources. For generating electricity, the nation has been mostly dependent on imported coal and oil, which is prone to supply volatility.
Additionally, Philippines has some of the Southeast Asia’s highest electricity costs. Moving more towards renewable energies such as geothermal, hydropower, and solar would help significantly in addressing to these power disruptions.
Tags: #DOE, #PowerDisruptions, #YellowAlerts, #Luzon, #Visayas