Luzon, Visayas grids placed on red alert, rotating brownouts set on May 23

MANILA (4th Update) - The Luzon and Visayas power grids have again been put on red alert on May 23, Thursday with several areas set to experience rotating brownouts this afternoon. 

The National Grid Corp of the Philippines said the Sual Unit 1 tripped at 11:41 p.m. on Tuesday further cutting the available supply to the Luzon grid. 

The NGCP said the following power alerts were in effect: 

LUZON GRID

Red Alert

1 p.m. - 5 p.m.

6 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Yellow Alert

12 p.m. - 1 p.m.

10 p.m. - 12 a.m.

VISAYAS GRID

Red Alert

1 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Yellow Alert

12 p.m. - 1 p.m.

9 p.m. - 11 p.m.

The NGCP said it may implement the following areas may experience brownouts to maintain the integrity of the power system:  

NGCP may implement Manual Load Dropping (MLD) in the following areas today, 23 May, to maintain the integrity of the power system: 

VISAYAS

5 pm. -  6 p.m. 

• CENECO (parts of Negros Occidental
• NOCECO (parts of Negros Occidental) 
• NONECO (parts of Negros Occidental) 
• NORECO I (parts of Negros Oriental) 
• NORECO II (parts of Negros Oriental) 
• LEYECO II (parts of Leyte)
• SOLECO (Southern Leyte)
• DORELCO (parts of Leyte)
• LEYECO III (parts of Leyte)
• LEYECO IV (parts of Leyte)
• LEYECO V (parts of Leyte)
• BILECO (Biliran)
• ESAMELCO (Eastern Samar)
• SAMELCO I (parts of Samar)
• SAMELCO II (parts of Samar)
• NORSAMELCO (Northern Samar)
• MORE (parts of Iloilo City)
• AKELCO (parts of Aklan)
• ANTECO (parts of Antique)
• CAPELCO (parts of Capiz)
• ILECO I (parts of Iloilo Province)
• ILECO II (parts of Iloilo Province)
• ILECO III (parts of Iloilo Province)
• GUIMELCO (parts of Guimaras)
• CEBECO 2 (Parts of Cebu)
• VECO (Parts of Cebu City and Cebu)
• CEBECO 3 (Parts of Cebu)
• CEBECO 1 (Parts of Cebu)

These schedules may be canceled if system conditions improve, the NGCP said.

A red alert status is issued when the power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirement. This means rotating brownouts can be expected during these times.

A yellow alert is issued when the available power is not enough to meet the transmission grid's contingency requirement, meaning rotating brownouts are possible.

Several plants are on forced outage or running on lowered or derated capacities. For Luzon, a total of 2,525.5 megawatts are unavailable to the grid.

For the Visayas grid meanwhile, a total of 553.1MW is unavailable to the grid.

The Philippines has been experiencing power shortages since April. The head of the Department of Energy has even called the situation a "calamity."

Meralco meanwhile said it has already advised its interruptible load program (ILP) participants for their de-loading commitments to help ease and manage the demand in the Luzon power grid.

Meralco Spokesman and Head of Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga also urged consumers to conserve power amid the low reserves.

"We again urge the public to continue practicing energy conservation and efficiency measures as a way to help in contributing to demand side management," Zaldarriaga said.

Meralco said it is monitoring the situation and will provide updates as needed.