MANILA, Philippines – The power reserve in the Luzon grid went back to normal on Wednesday and would be enough to supply the demand for electricity during the Holy Week, a Department of Energy (DOE) official said.
Mylene Capongcol, Electric Power Industry Management Bureau director, said the power reserve returned to its normal level at 800 megawatts (MW).
“This means we have enough reserve for us to meet our demands of consumption,” Capongcol said in Filipino during an interview over Inquirer Radio 990AM.
The DOE official said the public should not worry of a power shortage during the Holy Week, when most people are taking a vacation.
“Demand for electricity during the Holy Week is not that high. There will be enough capacity for that, although the reserve is not ideal,” she said.
Capongcol added that the relatively cool weather on Wednesday also meant that demand for electricity may not reach its peak.
On Tuesday, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines issued a yellow alert, which meant that the available reserves were insufficient to meet the grid’s required contingency and thus any further outage, even from a single power plant, could already cause brownouts all over Luzon.
Its Masinloc Unit 2 in Zambales also went offline 7:55 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Capongcol said the Zambales power barge in Masinloc broke down due to a leaking boiler tube.
The power plant unit would be fixed in two to three days, and that the unit may go online on April 19 or 20, the official added.
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