The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said the Luzon grid was already under severe strain before two transmission lines tripped last week, with around 4,000 megawatts of generating capacity unavailable due to forced outages and derated operations.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) aired on May 20, NGCP spokesperson and head of corporate communications and public affairs Cynthia Perez-Alabanza said the grid was operating with limited reserves even before the transmission incidents that contributed to red alerts and rotating brownouts across Luzon and the Visayas.

“Hindi namin, ah, sinasabing wala kaming pananagutan d’yan. Ah, kailangan tingnan natin ‘yung big picture,” she said. (“We are not saying that we have no responsibility there. We need to look at the big picture.”)

The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission directed NGCP last week to submit a comprehensive incident report on the yellow and red alerts that affected the Luzon and Visayas grids from May 12 to 14. The alerts prompted rotating brownouts in parts of Luzon and heightened concerns over tight supply conditions, particularly as electricity demand remained elevated during the summer season.

The report must detail the root causes of the supply deficiencies, the generating units and transmission facilities involved, reserve and demand levels during the alerts, and the actions taken to restore normal operations.

The grid operator has yet to provide a formal report to explain the cause of the grid disturbances as of this writing.

The Visayas grid was placed under yellow alert again on May 20 after the forced outages of Units 1 and 2 of Therma Visayas Inc. and Unit 3 of Panay Energy Development Corporation reduced available capacity. NGCP said available capacity stood at 2,691 MW against projected peak demand of 2,438 MW. 

The renewed alert came as the DOE warned that a possible strong El Niño later this year could trigger more yellow and red alerts as higher temperatures push electricity demand upward and strain already thin reserves, particularly in the Visayas.

Do you think the latest grid alerts point to a generation adequacy problem, a transmission reliability issue, or both? Join the discussion.

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