Metro Manila, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) on Wednesday, May 13, ordered the immediate resolution of transmission and power plant issues that triggered alerts ranging from insufficient reserves or lack of supply in the Luzon and Visayas grids.
In a statement, Energy Secretary Sharon S. Garin directed the private sector grid operator to address transmission constraints affecting the dispatch of major power plants in Luzon.
The DOE said the 500-kilovolt Tayabas-Ilijan and Dasmariñas-Ilijan transmission lines tripped at around 6:30 a.m., resulting in the disconnection of Ilijan Units 1 and 2 in Batangas with a combined capacity of 1,200 megawatts, as well as EERI Units 1, 2, and 3, also in Batangas, with a total capacity of 1,262 megawatts.
At 6:34 a.m., Masinloc Unit 3 in Zambales, which has a capacity of 325 megawatts, also went on forced outage.
The agency said it directed concerned private sector operators to provide details regarding the transmission incidents, and to immediately restore the power plant operation.
Meanwhile, the Visayas grid was placed under red alert, or the lack of supply to meet demand, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and under yellow alert – thin power reserve – from 8:01 p.m. to 9 p.m. Garin also ordered the immediate restoration of generating units from Therma Visayas Inc. and Panay Energy Development Corporation.
“On both the transmission side and the generation side, our directive is the same: restore normal conditions as quickly as possible and protect Filipino consumers from prolonged supply disruptions,” she said.
The DOE added that it has coordinated with distribution utilities, including the Manila Electric Company, for the possible activation of the interruptible load program – where large customers use their own power and temporarily disconnect from the grid – to prevent prolonged power interruptions.
Manual load dropping
Meralco on Wednesday afternoon announced a manual load dropping, or rotating power interruptions, beginning at 3:23 p.m. and expected to last an average of three hours in response to the Luzon grid alert.
In its 4 p.m. bulletin, the power distributor said around 200,000 customers in its franchise area were believed affected by the interruption across Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Metro Manila, and Rizal.
“We continue to urge the public to practice energy conservation and efficiency measures,” it said.
