26/04/2024
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
In the past few days, a lot of power interruption advisories have been occurring. This is due to the maintenance work of the Manila Electric Co. (MERALCO) and because of the effect of El Niรฑo.
๐ฌ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ผ๐ ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ผ
On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, the Philippines main grids experienced a shortfall of energy supply for the seventh time for the month of April, with a yellow alert being raised over the Mindanao power grid for the first time in 2024.
In declaration, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) situated Mindanao under yellow alert status from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. after nine plants in the region went offline, while five have been running on derated capacities. This occasioned in the unavailability of 673.98 megawatts (MW) to the grid.
๐ฌ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ผ๐ ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐๐๐ผ๐ป
As of April 26, 2024, 8:00 a.m. A yellow alert has been issued for Luzon, with an available capacity of 14,535MW and a peak demand of 13751MW. 4 plants have been on forced outage since 2023, 4 between January and March 2024, and 14 since April 2024; while 2 others are running on derated capacity, for a total of 1,512.7MW unavailable to the grid.
๐ฌ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ผ๐ ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฉ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐
As of April 26, 2024, 8:00 a.m. A yellow alert was spotted on Visayas, with an availability capacity of 2,791MW and a peak demand of 2,530MW. 1 plant has been forced outage since 2022, 2 since 2023, 2 between January and March 2024, and 14 since April 2024; while 8 others are running on derated capacities, for a total of 604.1MW.
A yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid's contingency requirement.
Manila Electric Co. (MERALCO) said it had advised the participants of this interruptible Load Program to be on standby. โIf necessary, we are ready to implement manual load dropping as part of our responsibility to manage the system,โ Meralco said in a Viber statement.
According to Mr. Manansala, hydroelectric power plants are expected to have lower output during the summer months especially with the El Niรฑo weather phenomenon.
โHowever, the untimely unavailability and deration of other plants such as coal have made the situation alarming,โ he said.
ICSC said the country is expected to experience a shortfall of power supply โindefinitelyโ for as long as power plants continue to run on derated capacities.
'The task of maintaining a bulk power system rests on the harmony between power players, regulators, and end-consumers. But the responsibilities are not equal.'
The latest incident, the first Yellow Alert in the power grid of the year, proves to be a case of why communicating power system jargon is important. After all, itโs consumers who bear the brunt and cost of rotating or sustained power interruption.
Based on news reports, the DOE reiterated the responsibility of the System Operator (SO), which is the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), to ensure not only security but reliability of the grid.
On the other hand, the NGCP repeated its call for more power plants to be built. They mentioned that they are ready to deliver power to consumers but emphasized the need to maintain balance in the system. That is, generators must be synchronized and the system must be stable so that distribution utilities (DUs) can be given the go signal to distribute power.
For most consumers, the first to be blamed is the DU. Local officials blame the NGCP, as with how the DOE and lawmakers framed their statements. NGCP is washing its hands, saying that they are merely a โhighwayโ of power akin to a vehicle paying a toll to use an expressway.
The grid is more complex than just supplying the demand with supply. Because, like any good system, the grid needs to be stable to deliver power. We often overlook this because adequacy is just the balance of power, that is, the supply should be greater than the demand. However, the reliability and stability of the grid are equally important aspects. Without the facility to securely deliver power, minimizing disturbances that may randomly occur, then power will not be delivered. Similarly, if the conditions of the grid are not optimal for power to be delivered, the system will collapse and power will not be delivered. Worse, generators may lose synchronicity and trip. We also forget that thermal, bulk generators are not like our diesel generator sets in our households. They take time to be โturned onโ and โturned offโ (ramp rate is the technical term).
To put it briefly, the task of maintaining a bulk power system rests on the harmony between power players, regulators, and end-consumers. There is a delicate balance of parameters and measurements that need to be maintained to ensure that supply is sufficient and is delivered efficiently and effectively.
๐พ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐: ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐ ๐ซ. ๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐
