DOE: Luzon ‘red alert’ may continue until next week; no brownouts soon
NGCP power lines (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — The “red alert” power status in Luzon may persist until next week but rotational brownouts may no longer be implemented by mid-month, the Department of Energy (DOE) said Friday.
During the hearing of the House committee on energy on the recent rotational brownouts in Luzon, DOE Director of Electric Power Industry Management Bureau (EPIMB) Mario Marasigan said the “red alert” power status in Luzon may still persist until next week if power plants will not be fixed.
“Ano naman yung ating nakikita for the next weeks? Yung end of this week hanggang next week, nakikita na kung walang makakapasok na planta, below the red line pa rin tayo,” Marasigan said.
“So kulang pa rin yung ating regulating reserves, magkakaroon pa rin tayo ng red alert,” he added.
But Marasigan expressed hopes that the power situation can improve to a “yellow alert” in the following weeks. Based on his presentation, DOE projects this to be around June 11.
“Hopefully pagpasok ng mga susunod na linggo, up to July 1, magkaroon na tayo ng mga planta na papasok at bababa na rin ang ating konsumo kung kaya’t matatawid natin yung red alert,” Marasigan said.
“Hindi na tayo magkakaroon ng rotational brownout pero nasa yellow alert pa rin tayo,” he added.
In his report, Marasigan said that for the month of May, the country did not reach the projected demand. The projected demand for May was at 11,841 megawatts, the highest for the entire year, but actual demand only reached 11,481.
“Sa timing tama, pero mas manaba ang naging demand ibig sabihin, naitawid natin yun,” Marasigan said.
However, Marasigan said that power issues only started to happen when four power plants suffered sudden breakdowns.
“Kung titingnan, naitawid yung pinakamataas na demand, pero bakit bumababa na siya pero di natin naitawid? Ang naging problema… ay dahil sa pagbagsak ng mga planta,” Marasigan said.
“‘Yun ang primary reason. Unplanned at nawalan tayo ng control kung kaolin siya mangyayari,” he added.
