Rotational brownouts in Cebu continue

Local

ROTATIONAL brownouts continued in parts of Cebu as Visayan Electric works to help stabilize the Visayas grid amid ongoing power supply deficiencies and National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP)-issued Red and Yellow Alerts.

The power distributor said the scheduled outages began Wednesday, May 13, during peak hours following advisories from the NGCP, which warned of insufficient power reserves in the Visayas.

Engr. Nino Paolo Cerrado, officer-in-charge of Visayan Electric’s Reputation Enhancement Department, said the temporary outages are necessary to prevent a larger system failure.

“Kaning rotational brownout, solusyon ni siya aron ma-protect ang grid (This rotational brownout is a solution to help protect the grid),” Cerrado said during dyLA’s Power Friday radio program.

He added that Visayan Electric continues to monitor NGCP advisories as several power plants remain unavailable or are operating below normal capacity.

“Dili ta ganahan mo-collapse ang grid kay mas dakong problema if ang grid nato ang mo-collapse (We do not want the grid to collapse because it would create a much bigger problem if our grid goes down),” he said.

Under the current setup, affected areas may experience outages lasting around one hour, although the utility said efforts are being made to minimize the impact on consumers.

Critical facilities such as hospitals and water supply systems are being prioritized to avoid service interruptions. Visayan Electric may also activate the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) if larger power curtailments are required by NGCP.

As of Friday morning, May 15, NGCP placed the Visayas grid under Red Alert from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., while Yellow Alerts were declared from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

NGCP data showed available capacity at 2,441 megawatts against a peak demand of 2,661 megawatts.

The grid operator also reported that multiple power plants remain on forced outage or are operating at reduced capacity, resulting in more than 841 megawatts unavailable to the grid.

The Department of Energy (DOE) traced the situation to the tripping of two major 500-kilovolt transmission lines in Luzon on May 13. The affected lines disrupted the delivery of electricity from major power plants, including the Ilijan natural gas facilities, affecting reserves in both Luzon and the Visayas.

DOE said the incident caused transmission congestion and lower reserve power, prompting the issuance of grid alerts.

The agency has coordinated with NGCP, power generators, and distribution utilities, including Visayan Electric, to fast-track restoration efforts and implement contingency measures when necessary.

Meanwhile, the DOE welcomed the recent launch of the first phase of the 25-megawatt Toledo (Carmen) Battery Energy Storage System in Cebu, which is expected to help improve the reliability of the Visayas grid.(CMM)