Power outage hits Panay Island

NGCP. INQUIRER FILES

ILOILO CITY—A power outage hit all major cities and provinces on Panay Island on Tuesday, with many areas still without electricity even as it was gradually restored in parts of the island by nightfall.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), in an advisory, said that at least 452 megawatts were in the Visayas grid due to trip off of power plants (302 MW) and maintenance shutdown (150 MW), leaving Panay Island without elecricity.

Panay Island is composed of the provinces of Iloilo, Antique, Capiz and Aklan, and the regional capital Iloilo City.

“NGCP is diligently working on stabilizing voltage and has extended feedback power to Iloilo and PEDC (Panay Energy Development Corp.) Load restoration will be conducted cautiously, ensuring a gradual matching of loads to restored generation to prevent recurring voltage failures,” it said.

NGCP had yet to disclose the cause of the power plant outages except that an internal issue caused the trip off of PEDC Unit 1 plant on Tuesday noon. PEDC, with plants located in Iloilo City, services both the city and the province.

At 2:19 p.m., PEDC Unit 2 and various other plants on Panay Island also tripped off, prompting NGCP to issue a yellow alert on the island from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Load drops

Restoration efforts for the affected plants are under way, the NGCP said. While NGCP had not implemented manual load dropping, “distribution utilities reserve the right to carry out load drops to address voltage-sensitive loads or manual disconnections aimed at securing voltage levels,” it said.

All coal-fired power plants on Panay Island have ceased operations, raising concerns about a prolonged return to full capacity, reminiscent of the challenges faced in April 2023.

Panay and Guimaras Islands are dependent on diesel power plants and a 180-MW power supply from the grid, the NGCP said.

As a consequence, MORE Power was implementing round-the-clock rotational brownouts until the baseload coal power plants on Panay Island could be fully restored.

The gradual power restoration depends entirely on the capacity clearance provided by the NGCP.

“Priority is given to feeders serving vital institutions, such as hospitals and government offices, emphasizing the importance of ensuring uninterrupted power supply to critical facilities,” it said.

Dismayed

MORE Power Iloilo, the distribution utility in Iloilo City, had issued a warning to consumers, advising them to shut down appliances, especially motorized ones, until a stable power supply was restored in the city.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas called on the Department of Energy (DOE) and the NGCP to swiftly resolve the problem.

“I am utterly dismayed that due to an unstable supply, the whole Panay Island can be totally isolated. I call on the DOE and NGCP to resolve this problem at the earliest possible time. I also call on NGCP to find a more sustainable solution to the problem. I am dismayed with this kind of service,” he said.