THE Visayas grid was placed under yellow alert for the third straight day yesterday, as over 20 power plants are either on forced outage or running on derated capacities.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said the Visayas grid was placed under yellow alert — indicating that the operating margin is insufficient to meet the contingency requirement — from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The grid’s available capacity was recorded at 2,926 megawatts, which compares with the peak demand of 2,596 megawatts.
This comes as one plant has been on forced outage since 2022, two since 2023, two between January and March 2024, and 14 between April and May 2024, while five are running on derated capacities for a total of 616.3 megawatts unavailable to the grid.
A succeeding advisory said the Visayas Grid would be placed under yellow alert from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“Yellow alert intervals were reduced with the availability of CEDC Unit 1 and Panay Diesel1-3,” the NGCP said.
The Department of Energy (DOE) earlier said more yellow and red alerts are expected in the coming weeks, as the country has already exceeded its forecasted demand given the prevailing heat levels due to the El Niño.
This comes as the state weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said residents in Metro Manila and 36 other areas could experience dangerous levels of heat index on Wednesday, reaching as high as 47 degrees Celsius in Dagupan City in Pangasinan.
For its part, the Department of Health (DOH) has advised the public to use alternative cooling techniques such as using a wet towel, and sprinkling water using a spray bottle to combat the heat. (GMA Integrated News)
