NGCP: Luzon Grid under yellow alert on Monday afternoon

The Luzon Grid will be placed under yellow alert status on Monday afternoon, May 13, 2024, as 20 plants remain on forced outage, according to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

In an advisory issued 8 a.m., the NGCP said Luzon Grid will be under yellow alert from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. for having available peak capacity of 14,640 megawatts (MW) against a peak demand of 13,446 MW.

The yellow alert was extended from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., due to the increased demand and the deration of SLGPC Unit 1 from 150 megawatts to 90 megawatts.

A yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement.

The NGCP said five plants have been on forced outage since 2023, another five between January and March 2024, and 10 between April and May 2024.

Meanwhile, four other plants are running on derated capacities.

"[These make up] for a total of 2,050.5MW unavailable to the grid," the NGCP said.

The Visayas Grid was also placed on yellow alert from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., as the available capacity was recorded at 2,790 megawatts while the peak demand was estimated at 2,444 megawatts.

There was one plant on forced outage since 2022, two since 2023, two between January and March 2024, and 12 power plants currently on forced outage, while seven are on derated capacities.

The Department of Energy (DOE) earlier said more yellow and red alerts are expected in the coming weeks, as the country has already exceeded its forecasted demand given the prevailing heat levels due to El Niño. —KBK/RF, GMA Integrated News