DOE sees higher power demand as hottest days ahead

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) is bracing for the hottest days of the year on May 21 and 22 with temperatures possibly hovering above 37 degrees Celsius, which is expected to push up the demand for power.

In a briefing yesterday, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said the DOE will do its best to manage the situation as demand is certain to go up during those two days, which coincide with the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia that will run from May 21 to 23.

“It’s difficult to guarantee when the plants will bog down but the thing is we have a better situation this week compared to last week,” he added.

He also said the overall outlook for Luzon is a yellow alert for the week but closer to normal rather than red alert.

A red alert means there is severe power deficiency, while a yellow alert status means that contingency reserves are below the minimum level set by the regulator but does not necessarily mean power outages or blackouts. A white alert means the situation is back to normal.

Yesterday, the Luzon grid remained on white alert despite warnings that it will go yellow.

“The outlook for today to Wednesday is the same. It will be yellowish,” Petilla said.

But he said the situation will turn critical if power plants conk out unexpectedly. “It’s difficult to say when a red alert will happen because it will depend on how many plants will shut down unexpectedly.”

Unit 1 of the Pagbilao plant in Quezon, which conked out on Friday and affected 347 megawatts, will be back on Thursday.

Power outages

However, power interruptions are slated today in seven towns in Pampanga and five in Zambales.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) yesterday announced power interruption from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. today in areas served by Pampanga Electric Cooperative 2 and San Fernando Electric Light and Power Co. Inc. in Bacolor, Sta. Rita, Sasmuan, Porac, Lubao, Guagua and Floridablanca in Pampanga.

The NGCP said the reason for the power outage is to “facilitate correction of critical hot spot at Remedios DS terminal pad and retightening of bolts and nuts of strain clamp along Hermosa-Guagua 69 KV line.”

In Zambales, power interruption is slated from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in areas served by the Zambales Electric Cooperative 1 in the towns of Iba, Palauig, Candelaria, Masinloc and Sta. Cruz.

Visayas grid on red alert

The Visayas grid was placed on red alert yesterday because of zero reserves after three power plants in the region went on scheduled shutdown.

On Monday, the NGCP said the Visayas grid has zero reserves, with a peak demand of 1,569 MW and a capacity of 1,498 MW. – With Ding Cervantes, Bebot Sison Jr.