For September, the power supply in Luzon would still be sufficient. But by October, yellow alerts, which mean insufficient or thin supply, would be issued by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, which supplies to the Meralco.
For September, the power supply is still sufficient. But by October, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines would be issuing yellow alerts indicating thin or barely sufficient reserves, which could lead to outages.
The Department of Energy told the Senate Energy Committee that the department is reviewing the demand-supply outlook for the entire 2023 because
“we have lost the fuel of Ilijan, which is 12000 megawatts,” said Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla.
Based on the DOE materials presented at the hearing, there will be sufficient but thin reserves, with possibility of yellow alerts, during the months of August and October.
NGCP issues a yellow alert when the operating margin falls below the contingency reserve requirement.
“For the Luzon grid, for the remaining months of the year, the yellow line is for the required contingency reserve. We are in danger of not meeting the required contingency reserves in the month of October,” Business Mirror quoted Lotilla saying.
The required contingency reserve for week 40 is 647MW, 663MW for week 41, 500MW for week 42, and 520MW for week 43. “We are in danger of not meeting the required contingency reserves in month of October. In August, we have already passed that. Fortunately, there were no interruptions,” he said.
The DOE considered the unplanned outages of power plants that could significantly deplete the power supply of the grid, including the Ilijan plant.
The said plant is no longer sourcing fuel from the Malamapaya gas field. Malampaya operator Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. said earlier that its gas supply and purchase agreement (GSPA) with the National Power Corp. (NPC) for supply of indigenous natural gas to the Ilijan gas-fired power plant has concluded.
The new owner of Ilijan plant may utilize banked gas to fuel the plant, which could serve its requirements until February 2024. However, the delivery of the banked gas has yet to commence.
Tags: #DoE, #powersupply, #NGCP, Luzon, #yellowalert, #thinreserves