Luzon on ‘red alert’ due to insufficient power—NGCP

The Luzon power grid was placed under “red alert” status on Monday afternoon due to insufficient operating power and high system demand.

In an advisory, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said available capacity was set at 9,300 megawatts compared to the peak demand of 9,370 MW. Red alert translates to high power deficiency, which means that electricity reserves were below the minimum level.

NGCP, the agency in charge of the country’s transmission superhighway, declared the red alert from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. It was an upgrade from the “yellow alert” it declared on Monday morning from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The NGCP also assured the public that their power transmission services remained “stable” despite the 5.4 magnitude earthquake that hit northern Samar on Monday morning.

“Power transmission services of NGCP remain normal despite the 5.4 magnitude earthquake which occurred 89km Northeast of Mapanas, Northern Samar at 8:43am today, 10 April. The grid remains intact as there had been no reported cases of power interruptions and damaged transmission facilities in Northern Samar,” it added. JE/rga