Despite Energy Secretary Angelo T. Reyes’ brave pronouncements that Luzon will not be plunged into power supply shortages again, system operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) warned Thursday of two-three hours of rotating brownouts hitting consumers in the country’s biggest grid for the next round if hurdles in generation deficiency cannot be addressed expeditiously.
 
The system operator declared ‘red alert’ status for the grid for almost a month, from February 16 to March 11, due to forecast deficiency in generation which may hover by as massive as 500 megawatts. When that happens, NGCP noted that the impact will be two to three hours of rolling brownouts.
 
Carlito C. Claudio, NGCP’s deputy assistant chief technical officer, said the power plants on inventory and which are scheduled to run while the Malampaya gas facility is on shutdown would not be enough to meet demand.
 
Claudio explained that the 600-megawatt Malaya thermal plant cannot run at full capacity “due to fuel constraints,” since the reserve fuel has already been used to offset capacity loss in the grid when Sual plant was on shutdown.
 
The plant’s generation is seen optimized only at 120 MW, if fuel deliveries will not be expedited given the procurement policies of state-run National Power Corporation.
 
Claudio explained that fuel can be delivered at the plant in Pililla, but it shall be done by barges at smaller increments.
 
As of 2 PM Thursday, the grid was on yellow alert, with reserve capacity dipping to as low as 43 megawatts; way below the required level of reserve in the grid.
 
The maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya plant kicked off February 11. But the plants utilizing natural gas to generate electricity shifted to other fuels, such as condensate for First Gas plants and diesel for Ilijan.
 
As of February 11, the system operator noted that generation from the gas plants was still contributing to the grid’s supply.
 
The Sual coal-fired facility in Pangasinan was reported to be running at full capacity and that it assured sufficient coal supply in the coming months.