The Department of Energy (DOE) assured the public that the grid will remain stable and will have sufficient energy supply to last during the summer season, even with the upcoming elections.
In a press conference which aired live on the DOE Facebook page, DOE Assistant Secretary Redentor Delola noted that the situation of the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao grids looked positive, although the forced power outages haven’t been included in the scenario.
Among the three grids, Luzon and Mindanao will be the most affected by the upcoming El Nino as these regions have the most number of hydro power plants, but the government assured that the grid is in a normal and stable state.
“Magkakaroon tayo ng weak El Nino situation for the period of April to June, wala naman pong matinding impact ito sa power supply natin,” DOE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said.
In terms of peak demand, the Luzon grid will be at 11, 400 MW; 2, 299MW for Visayas; and 2, 213MW for Mindanao.
However, the peak demands for Visayas and Mindanao is expected in the latter part of the year.
Delola noted the contingency measures the department is planning to take to ensure that power plants will have minimal outages. These include management of plant maintenance schedules, preparing available generator sets for unforeseen outages, participation of big establishments in the interruptible Load Program, and continuously reminding the consumers the practice of using energy efficiently.
Delola assured that the energy supply will be sufficient given that the historical average of unplanned power plant shutdowns is only 300 MW.
In case of unforeseen outages, Fuentebella said that Luzon could import 200 MW of power from the Visayas grid plus the 150 MW that would be from the Malaya thermal plant.
The DOE is calling on consumers to be conscious on their electricity use especially during the El Nino season which records higher electricity demand.
“Huwag po nating gamitin yung airconditioner na parang electric fan. Ang advice po ng Department of Energy ay nasa 25 degrees or 24 degrees lamang yung lamig na inilalagay natin. ‘Wag na po nating gawing disi-otso kasi masyado na yung mataas ang babayaran natin sa kuryente at masyadong malakas po ang paggamit sa kuryente,” Fuentebella said.