Meralco reports power interruption in some areas amid Luzon grid ‘red alert’

FILE PHOTO: A worker attends to a bank of electricity meters. INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) on Monday said that several areas might be experiencing power interruptions due to a “sudden plant outage.”

“Your power supply may have been affected by a temporary system imbalance due to a sudden plant outage and may last for 10 to 15 minutes. Identification of affected areas is ongoing,” Meralco said in an advisory.

The power distributor urged areas impacted to contact Meralco if their interruption persists beyond 15 minutes.

In a later update, Meralco said power restoration is taking longer than intended, adding that it is already coordinating with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

Meanwhile, the NGCP said five power plants are currently on forced outage while three others are running on “derated capacities.”

Due to this, the NGCP placed the Luzon grid on “red alert” from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The grid will be placed on “yellow alert” during the two-hour gap between the mentioned periods.

READ: Red alert raised in Luzon grid – NGCP

A red alert status is issued when there is insufficient power supply in the grid or if it is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirement.

A yellow alert, on the other hand, refers to when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s regulating and contingency requirements.

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