Power interruption schedule depends on grid condition

CEBU, Philippines — Power interruptions may not always follow the announced schedule and depend on the changing condition of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) grid, the Visayan Electric Company Inc. said.

Visayan Electric Marketing and Communications Manager Erik Monsanto made this clarification before the Mandaue City Council, saying the company cannot commit to following its announced schedules down to the last minute because of changing grid conditions.

"Naay higayon nga di masunod that's because ang ato man gu'ng monitoring sa grid is real time, and the grid itself is very dynamic," Monsanto told the council on September 21.

Monsanto explained that there are instances when power is not interrupted during the announced period because the grid remains stable. However, an interruption may also happen earlier than scheduled if grid conditions deteriorate quickly, such as when an alert level escalates from yellow to red.

He said an earlier interruption may be necessary when the power supply drops significantly and the deficit becomes critical.

"Muingon na gani na si NGCP ni VECO 'oy kinahanglan kog og ingon ani nga particular number of Meggawats nga inyong pa'ungon mao na mupa'ung ta og sayo," said Monsanto.

Monsanto said VECO can only monitor grid conditions and, as a result, cannot guarantee that the schedule posted on its social media pages will be followed down to the last minute.

"Sometimes okay ra ta, maong di kinahanglan palungon. Kay if we follow the logic, nga for example 6-7 p.m., palungon gyud mo namo bisan pa og naay kuryente available. So, mao na'ng di ta kasunod na," Monsanto explained.

The statement came after the City Council passed a resolution urging VECO to adhere to its announced power interruption schedules to minimize inconvenience to residents and give them enough time to make necessary preparations.

On September 14, the council urged Visayan Electric to strictly follow its published rotational power interruption schedules, saying unpredictable outages were disrupting household routines and business operations.

The council also called on Visayan Electric to minimize the duration of power interruptions and improve its advisories.

In an interview with the media, Monsanto said VECO cannot predict the status of the power grid, adding that the schedules posted on its social media pages are forecasts.

"Para lang ang mga barangays bitaw makaingon gyud sila nga ingon ani mi'ng orasa pa'ungan makahibaw sila as much as possible," said Monsanto.

Monsanto said the schedule may not always be followed because the grid may experience a significant supply deficit, requiring an earlier interruption than forecast. On the other hand, power may remain available if grid conditions stabilize.

To improve its advisories, Visayan Electric is developing an application that would allow consumers to track the scope and timeframe of power interruptions.

"It is now in our website, we are currently improving it," said Monsanto.

Monsanto said Visayan Electric made improvements to the system last week but acknowledged that there were still issues with its user-friendliness.

"But we are continuously working on it nga matarong bitaw na nato ang monitoring," said Monsanto.

Monsanto said Visayan Electric’s preferred outcome is for power supply conditions to normalize so that scheduled interruptions would no longer be necessary.

"The best case, nga amo sad gyung gi-ampo, that we might not need that app anymore, nga ma normal nalang gyud ta," said Monsanto.

In a separate interview on Monday, Councilor Jennifer del Mar, who authored the resolution, urged Visayan Electric to further improve its announcements regarding scheduled power interruptions.

"Ang ilang tubag nato was that it is beyond their control kay it depends really sa supply gyud, para nako nakahimo man sila og warning what time or announcement, so kahibaw gyud sila nga mapa'ung by that time," said Del Mar.

Del Mar said improved advisories could help business owners whose operations rely on electricity prepare for power interruptions.

The councilor said her office continues to receive concerns and complaints about interruptions not following the announced schedules.

"Daghan, especially mga parents kay karon daghan ta og online classes because of the haze, naa gyud parents muingon nga unsaon nila pag online kung walay kuryente," said Del Mar.

Del Mar added that schools in Mandaue also depend on the announced power interruption schedules.

"So kung dili magkadimao ang scheduling, pananglitan ang usa ka student naa sa laing barangay, ang teacher naa sa laing barangay, si teacher nag online na so ang student na uwahi na kay wa kay kuryente," Del Mar explained.

She said she has yet to determine how to address the concern but hoped Visayan Electric could come up with a solution to improve the reliability of its power interruption advisories.

Visayas power concerns

The Department of Energy (DOE) said the Visayas remains a major concern in the country's power situation as several generating plants continue to suffer repeated or prolonged outages.

DOE Secretary Sharon Garin, in a virtual press conference Tuesday, said Luzon and Mindanao remained under normal conditions, with available generation exceeding projected demand.

Luzon had 15,465 megawatts (MW) of available capacity against an afternoon demand of 12,258 MW, while 13,751 MW was projected to be available in the evening against an 11,491-MW demand.

Mindanao, meanwhile, had 3,170 MW available against an afternoon demand of 2,661 MW and 3,101 MW against an evening demand of 2,607 MW.

The Visayas continued to face supply constraints as several generating units remained offline.

Among those being monitored is Palm Concepcion Power Corp. Unit 3, which remains on extended outage.

Therma Visayas Unit 1, which synchronized with the grid on Sept. 18, went offline again on the afternoon of Sept. 19 due to a boiler tube superheated bed material leak.

Garin said the unit needs to undergo a “cold reboot” to allow the facility to cool down before the extent and cause of the problem can be assessed.

Cebu Energy Development Corp. (CEDC), which had earlier been operating at reduced capacity, returned to its full 83.7-MW capacity early Tuesday.

KEPCO Salcon Power Corp. Unit 2 also experienced a suspected boiler tube leak Monday, with the company projecting a return to service around Sept. 26.

Garin said the DOE is assessing the reported outages to determine their causes and check compliance with existing rules and regulations.

Amid the supply constraints, the DOE welcomed the Energy Regulatory Commission's (ERC) decision to apply the Secondary Price Cap (SPC) separately to the Visayas and Mindanao grids.

Garin said the measure would help protect consumers from sudden increases in electricity prices during periods of tight supply.

Electric cooperatives obtain part of their electricity requirements from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), particularly when their contracted supply is insufficient.

“When the price in the market increases, tumataas din yung presyo ng electric bill ng mga electric co-ops, especially for this case, Visayas and Mindanao,” Garin said.

She said the recent sharp increase in WESM prices in the two regions was linked to tight supply following outages at several power plants.

Under the previous SPC mechanism, prices in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao were considered together in determining a national average. This allowed lower prices in Luzon to offset higher prices in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Under the new arrangement, the SPC will be computed separately for each regional grid. The regional SPC will apply beginning with the August 2026 billing period and will be reflected in electricity bills issued in September.

As an immediate intervention, the DOE is looking at the completion of about 253 MW of battery energy storage systems and the deployment of about 208 MW of power barges in various areas of the Visayas by the first quarter of 2027.

Together, the projects could provide more than 400 MW of additional capacity.

The DOE is also accelerating renewable energy projects and battery energy storage systems to help stabilize the grid.

According to Garin, the repeated breakdowns of generating plants remain a major concern since the Visayas has little supply margin to absorb additional outages.

She said the situation had been improving and alerts were expected to ease, but several units went offline again while Congress was holding a hearing Monday.

The DOE is coordinating with plant owners to hasten repairs, while its engineers are monitoring the work to ensure that repairs are properly carried out.

Long-term power supply

For the longer term, the DOE is coordinating with professional institutions, including the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers and the National Institute for Electrical Engineers, to conduct detailed audits and assessments of power facilities.

The assessment will determine which facilities may require refurbishment and which plants may no longer be capable of reliably delivering power.

Meanwhile, the DOE's Task Force 200 monitoring program has recorded 51 completed power projects with a combined capacity of 1,864.60 MW.

The DOE is also expediting 25 power projects for immediate operationalization. Of these, 14 projects with a combined capacity of 504.272 MW are already in commercial operation, while 11 projects totaling 828.335 MW have advanced to the final phases of grid integration.

The incoming capacity includes nearly 770 MW of solar projects, four hydropower projects totaling 28.55 MW, and one 30-MW biomass plant.

Garin said additional gas-fired power plants are expected to come online by 2028, along with coal and renewable energy projects. — (FREEMAN)