Massive power outage hits Western Visayas

NGCP blames unscheduled power plant shutdowns

MANILA, Philippines — A region-wide power outage hit Western Visayas a day after the New Year revelry, crippling the islands of Panay and Guimaras as well as some areas in Negros.

In a statement, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) blamed the massive outage on the unscheduled maintenance shutdowns of the largest power plants in Panay.

The power interruption prompted the city government of Iloilo to send employees home early on Tuesday and cancel classes the following day. Other local government units followed suit.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas urged the NGCP and Department of Energy (DOE) to solve the power problem.

Treñas said the Regional Development Council’s infrastructure development committee would look into the incident immediately.

By 7:18 p.m., the city’s sole power distribution utility, MORE Power and Electric Co., managed to energize 29.21 percent of its consumers, with priority given to vital installations like hospitals.

Ilonggos took to social media to express their dismay over the blackouts that greeted them on the second day of the year. They complained of sweltering heat, work interruption and leftovers from the previous day’s celebration getting spoiled.

The outage prompted the NGCP to reiterate its call for better energy resource planning as part of the whole-of-industry approach it has been pushing to address the country’s power needs.

The outage isolated Panay from the rest of the Visayas grid.

“We emphasize the need for improved planning to ensure sufficient generation per island, with a well-balanced mix of fuel and technology,” the grid operator said.

Due to the tripping of three of the largest power generating units and the planned maintenance shutdown of a 150-megawatt power generating unit, 451 MW or 68.75 percent of the total 656 MW in-island generation was lost to the Panay sub-grid.

The maintenance shutdown and deration of plants outside the Department of Energy (DOE)’s approved grid operating and maintenance program contributed to the lack of power supply, NGCP said.

It said only four of 13 power plants have been producing 40.3 MW or 6.2 percent of the 83.5-MW demand of Panay as of 9:30 p.m. of Jan. 2.

The grid needs about 300 MW to stabilize the system.

“We will be restoring loads conservatively by matching loads to restored generation to prevent repeated voltage failure. The NGCP is ready to transmit power once it is available. People must understand that we can only transmit power, we do not generate power,” the NGCP said.

It said the factors outlined in its letter to the city government of Iloilo in May last year still exist as contributing elements to the power outage.

In its letter, the grid operator stressed the need to conduct a more robust resource optimization planning by policymakers, to ensure that solutions to power system concerns are approached from all angles, and the most efficient ones prioritized.

It said there is a need to provide sufficient non-variable sources to stabilize the system, given the configuration of the Panay sub-grid and its dependency on variable energy sources in Negros when it loses internally generated power.

“The NGCP recommends a review of the Philippine Grid Code to cater to renewable energy sources, particularly the effective use of emerging technologies like energy storage systems,” it said.

Internal issue

The blackouts started at 2:19 p.m. of Jan. 2.

The NGCP said it monitored the tripping of the Panay Energy Development Corp. Unit 1 at 12:06 p.m. due to an internal issue.

By 2:19 p.m., the PEDC Unit 2 and other plants also tripped, causing Panay to be isolated from the rest of the Visayas.

PEDC’s Unit 3, which can generate 150 megawatts, has been under preventive maintenance since Dec. 19.

Aside from the PEDC’s power units 1 and 2,

other power plants tripped, including the Palm Concepcion Power Corp.

The power outage also affected consumers of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative Inc.

Adhere to responsibilities

The DOE reminded NGCP to adhere to its responsibilities as system operator in ensuring supply security and reliability of the grid.

In a statement, the DOE said the system operator “could have exercised, in a better manner, its responsibility in balancing the grid.”

With the system operator monitoring the grid 24/7, the DOE noted that NGCP is in a position to immediately coordinate with power plants to ensure that their respective unit protection and control settings will not cause grid instability that could lead to blackouts.

“NGCP is in a position to anticipate system disturbance such as what happened on Tuesday, which unfortunately resulted in the isolation of Panay from the rest of the Visayas grid due to the simultaneous tripping of power plants that caused multiple power interruption affecting other power plants and distribution utilities,” DOE Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara said.

The DOE said it is continuously coordinating with the NGCP and the affected power plants and distribution utilities on the status of the power plants, including the estimated timeline for the restoration of power supply.

For its part, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), said it is coordinating with the DOE and NGCP to address the power outage that affected the Panay sub-grid.

The ERC has requested additional data from NGCP and the concerned generation companies to assist its review of the incidents.

“The ERC understands the inconvenience this situation has caused to the consumers of Panay, and we assure the public that every effort is being made to restore power as quickly as possible,” ERC chair and chief executive officer Monalisa Dimalanta said.

Consumers of the Guimaras Electric Cooperative Inc.; Iloilo Electric Cooperatives 1, 2 and 3 and MORE Electric and Power Corp. were still experiencing power interruptions as of yesterday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said government agencies, power utilities and relevant stakeholders should prioritize and expedite the solution of the power crisis in Panay.

Estrada said the severity of the power shortage in Panay could not be overstated, as several provinces in Western Visayas were affected by the power outage on Tuesday.

“The absence of electricity did not only affect households, but also crippled businesses, hospitals and other crucial services that depend on a reliable power source,” Estrada said.

Probe sought

Iloilo City Rep. Julienne Baronda pushed for a House probe into the power outages that greeted the Ilonggos on the second day of the year.

Baronda said the incident warrants a scrutiny by the House committee on energy “in the exercise of its congressional oversight function to safeguard public welfare.”

“The investigation in aid of legislation on the April 2023 region-wide power outages by the committee on energy relative to House Resolution 933, which we authored along with fellow Ilonggo representatives, has yet to be concluded, and yet this new incident took place, distressing the Ilonggos,” Baronda said.

“It seems that those responsible and accountable have yet to learn their lesson,” she added. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Sheila Crisostomo