DOE sees no outages starting March

FILE PHOTO: An electrical lineman checks power meters in San Andres, Manila. INQUIRER FILES

The Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday said it was not expecting any rotational brownouts during the dry season despite thin reserves.

“We don’t see that kind of situation. All we have is possible yellow alerts here in Luzon and also in the Visayas, but not brownouts,” Energy Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara said during the Laging Handa briefing.

A yellow alert is raised when energy reserves are insufficient to cover the largest running generating unit at the time but does not necessarily lead to outages or brownouts.

In January this year, Guevara said the Luzon Grid was expected to be placed under the yellow alert starting March this year due to high demand.

READ: Philippine power reserves thin in 2023; but no red alert just yet

She said the yellow alerts might occur from March 12-18; March 26 to April 1; April 23-29; the entire month of May; June 1-10; August 27 to September 2; October 15 -21; and November 19-25.

“We have many challenges in the energy sector in the supply side,” Guevara said in a public briefing.

READ: DOE warns of thin power reserves

She said that among the causes of low power supply include the scheduled maintenance of the Malampaya power plant, unfinished projects on power generation, transmission and energy facilities that were supposed to be completed in 2022.

She also said that high fuel prices also contribute to the low power supply in the country.

READ: Energy department urged to act on insufficient power reserves