DOE: Power supply situation may improve starting Wednesday

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) said the power supply situation in the country is expected to improve this Holy Week, starting Wednesday, as more power plants are expected to restart operations.

In a press briefing on Monday, DOE Undersecretary and Spokesperson Wimpy Fuentebella said three more plants are expected to go live after a forced outage last week.

Fuentebella also claimed that the expected decline in demand during the Holy Week would further improve the power supply situation.

“By Wednesday, meron tayong mga plantang papasok. Wednesday maganda na, Thursday mababa ang demand, may papasok pang malaki, si Sual [Team Energy Corporation Sual Unit 1] ,” Fuentebella said.

(By Wednesday, some plants will go live. So the situation will improve. On Thursday, the demand will be low, and a big power plant, Sual, will be operational again.)

“For tomorrow (Tuesday), probably the same, but with the coming in of a plant we will improve,” he added.

The Luzon grid was placed under red alert status for three consecutive days last week as multiple power plants conked out.

The largest grid in the country was again placed under red alert on Monday.

READ: Brownouts feared Monday afternoon as Luzon grid goes on red alert

A red alert notice means that the projected demand exceeds available power generating capacity and there is zero contingency reserve. This prompted the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) to implement rotational brownout to maintain the integrity of the power system.

The power plants that are non-operational as of Monday are:
-SMC Consolidated Power Corporation (SMCCPC) Limay Unit 2
-Team Energy Corporation Sual Unit 1
-Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corporation (SLPGC) Unit 2
-Pagbilao Energy Corporation Unit 3

/ee