Luzon grid may not meet October power reserves – DOE

MANILA, Philippines — The Luzon grid may not be able to meet its required contingency reserves for next month based on its power outlook for the remainder of the year, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).

Contingency reserve refers to the capacity allocated to cover the loss or failure of a generating unit or a transmission line to maintain balance between generation and load.

“For the Luzon grid, we are in danger of not meeting the required contingency reserves in the month of October,” Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said during a Senate committee on energy hearing yesterday.

A similar outlook in terms of not meeting required contingency reserves was seen last month, but Lotilla noted that no interruptions have been recorded.

“In August, as we have already passed that, fortunately, there were no interruptions,” he said.

A yellow alert will be raised when there are not enough reserves to cover the largest running generating unit at the time, but does not necessarily lead to power outages.

The DOE said the transmission constraint from the power plants in Bataan to the load center in Metro Manila would be addressed immediately through the improvement of system operations to maximize available plants, timely completion of projects of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines and identification of specific segments where the government is the reason for the delay and provision of necessary intervention.

In the Visayas grid, Lotilla explained that there is adequate power being produced, especially in the island of Negros, but it cannot be used because there are not enough transmission lines to bring it to market in Cebu and other parts of the Visayas.

“Fortunately, for the Visayas, there is excess capacity from Luzon, which is brought by submarine cable to the main Visayas grid. Insofar as the contingency reserves are concerned, they can be met by the additional supply from Luzon,” he said.

“The evening peak, we are short, in fact. There would be red alerts and yellow alerts. That means that we are not able to meet the reserve requirements if not again for the infusion from Luzon,” he added.

As for Mindanao, the energy chief said there is currently an overcapacity, but these capacities cannot be brought to the Visayas because the submarine cable transmission lines have not yet been completed.