Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 17) — The Department of Energy (DOE) does not foresee any power grid alerts in Luzon for the remainder of 2023 in view of the FIBA World Cup 2023 to be hosted by the Philippines in late August, and the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections in October.
“In consideration na [that] we will be hosting the FIBA World Cup starting Aug. 25, as well as the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Election on Oct. 30 in 2023, sinasabi po ng ating projection yung available capacity po natin [our projections and our available capacity] including the resumption of operation of Ilijan [power plant] will provide ample supply and reserve to the Luzon grid,” DOE Asec. Mario Marasigan said Thursday.
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In its presentation before the Joint Congressional Energy Commission, the agency said that as of Aug. 17, the Luzon grid’s available capacity stood at 13,945 megawatts (MW) while demand peaked at 11,993 MW. This meant that about 1,952 MW stood in reserve.
\”So wala po tayong [there won’t be] yellow, any alerts for the rest of the year…especially if the dispatch of Ilijan power as well as the timely commissioning of the committed projects, wala po tayong [there won’t be] any alerts for the rest of the year,\” Marasigan added.
In June, the San Miguel Corporation’s Ilijan power plant in Batangas resumed operations and was reintegrated into the national grid at a partial capacity. This is the largest liquefied natural gas facility in the Philippines and provides 10% of Luzon’s net reliable capacity.
Aside from Luzon, the DOE’s report on the power supply situation said that as of Aug. 17, the Mindanao grid’s available capacity was 3,368 MW, and that the regional peak demand was 2,199 MW. This left 1,169 MW in reserve.
\”For Mindanao, we have ample and sufficient supply but we also see some deficiencies in terms of the full capacity of its facilities,\” the DOE said.
Meanwhile, the Visayas grid’s available capacity stood at 2,554 MW, while demand peaked at 2,238 MW, leaving a reserve of just 316 MW.
Marasigan said their projections show potential yellow alerts for the Visayas in the afternoon and evening peaks, but that these could be easily resolved.
\”This will be easily resolved po by the transfer of electricity coming from Luzon and Mindanao using the existing Luzon-Visayas interconnection and yung [the] ongoing testing and commissioning po natin ng [of the] Mindanao-Visayas connection project,\” he said.
