Nearly 1.38mn affected by power interruptions

About 1.38mn customers were struck by power interruptions that hit portions of Metro Manila and neighbouring provinces as some power plants remained offline or were not operating at full capacity.“1.38mn customers are affected so far and counting on today’s MLD (manual load dropping),” Manila Electric Co (Meralco) spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said in a text message yesterday.Meralco implements rotating brownouts or MLD in its coverage area when there is a shortage of power supply.The shortage prompted the National Grid Corp of the Philippines (NGCP) to declare red and yellow alerts in the entire Luzon grid that lasted for several hours. In its advisory, the country’s grid operator said the red alert was raised from 9am and lasted until 10pm.The yellow alert was also up from 8am to 9am and 10pm to 11pm. The NGCP raised the two alerts “due to major generation inadequacy,” according to the Department of Energy (DoE).The DoE attributed the power shortage to inoperable power plants.These are San Miguel Consolidated Power Corp (SCPC) Unit 2 (150 megawatts); Sual Unit I of Team Energy and San Miguel (647MW); Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp (SLPGC) Unit 2 of DMCI (150MW); Pagbilao Unit 3 of Team Energy and AboitizPower (420MW); and South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. (SLTEC) Unit 1 of Ayala (135MW).The DoE cited the supply deficiency to DMCI’s Calaca Unit 2 (100 megawatt) that is not operating at full capacity, as well as 827MW from previously approved outages caused by scheduled maintenance works.In an advisory, Meralco said 234MW from 112 accounts participated in its interruptible load programme (ILP), a scheme aimed at alleviating supply crunch in the power grid by voluntarily reducing the amount of load connected to the distribution grid during peak hours of the day.This caused the power interruptions in Manila, Quezon City, Caloocan City, Parañaque City, Pasay City, San Juan City, Las Piñas City, Valenzuela City, Malabon City, Navotas City, Pasig City, Taguig City, Muntinlupa City, Mandaluyong City, Marikina City and Makati City in Metro Manila; and in Plaridel, Malolos City, San Rafael, San Ildefonso, Pandi, Norzagaray, Dona Remedios Trinidad, Angat, Paombong, Hagonoy, Calumpit, Meycauayan, Santa Maria, Marilao, Bocaue, Pulilan, Baliuag, San Jose del Monte City and Balagtas in Bulacan.Power interruptions also hit Imus, General Trias, Dasmariñas City, Trece Martirez City, Tagaytay City, Silang, Naic, Indang, Amadeo, Bacoor, Noveleta, Kawit, Cavite City, Tanza, Rosario, General Mariano Alvarez and Carmona in Cavite; Cabuyao, Liliw, Magdalena, Majayjay, Nagcarlan, Rizal, San Pablo City, Bay, Calamba, Calauan, Los Banos, Pila, Santa Cruz, Victoria, Biñan, Santa Rosa, San Pedro and Alaminos in Laguna; Lucena City, Tayabas, Pagbilao, Candelaria, Dolores, San Antonio and Tiaong in Quezon; Batangas City, Talisay, San Pascual and Santo Tomas in Batangas; Taytay, Cainta and San Mateo towns in Rizal; and Apalit and San Simon in Pampanga.Peak demand was higher at 10,623MW against available capacity at 10,206MW as of 1pm yesterday.The DoE said the power situation would improve next week when some power plants resume normal operations.“We see an improvement of the system for Saturday and Sunday due to low demand on weekends,” the DoE said. “The energy family is expected to have a better determination of the week’s outlook by Sunday,” it added.The department said Sual Unit 1 of Team Energy and SLTEC Unit 1 of Ayala will be back on the grid today, while SCPC Limay Unit 2 and Pagbilao Unit 3 of TeaM Energy and AboitizPower will go online on April 16.