A YELLOW alert status was once again raised over the Visayas grid as some coal power plants remained offline.
In an advisory yesterday, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said the Visayas would be under yellow alert from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
In a yellow alert, the power supply can still meet demand, but it will serve as a warning that when a plant breaks down one way or another, it will result in brownouts.
As some power facilities are still on forced outage or running on derated capacities, NGCP said about 846.3 megawatts (MW) of power capacity were not available to the grid.
As of this writing, the available capacity was 2,691 MW, while the peak demand was pegged at 2,594 MW.
Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DOE) said there may be more rotational brownouts this year as a looming strong El Niño threatens to further strain the country’s power supply, prompting energy officials to brace for additional yellow and red alerts.
The DOE, in a media briefing on Monday, May 18, said that power alerts could persist in the coming months as rising temperatures push electricity demand higher. (Lisbet K. Esmael © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
