1-hour outage looms in parts of Zambales due to thin supply

Zambales map. INQUIRER FILES

SAN ANTONIO, Zambales — A one-hour power interruption was expected in some portions of this province on Thursday, April 18, after the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) issued a red alert over Luzon.

A red alert means the power supply could not meet the consumer demand in accordance with the transmission grid’s regulatory requirements.

In an advisory, Zambales II Electric Cooperative Inc. (Zameco) said it might carry out manual load dropping at 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday due to this unstable power situation.

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Zameco II serves the towns of Cabangan, Castillejos, San Antonio, San Felipe, San Marcelino, San Narciso, and Subic.

The NGCP placed Luzon and Visayas grids under red and yellow alert status for the third consecutive day on Thursday, citing the thin electricity supply.

A yellow alert is raised when the operating margin can no longer meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirements.

The NGCP said the peak demand for Luzon grid on Thursday was expected to reach 12,892 megawatts, while available capacity is at 13,397 MW. INQ