The Luzon Grid may face 12 yellow alerts this year, particularly during the summer months, should power plants go into forced outages, data from the Department of Energy (DOE) said.
“Factoring in the projected forced outage ranging from 500-600 MW for the entire year along with the operation of existing power plants and committed power plants, the Luzon grid is projected to have zero red alerts and 12 yellow alerts,” DOE said in a media conference on Monday.
The Luzon Grid is expecting to reach its peak demand during the last week of May at 13,125 megawatts (MW).
Among the projected yellow alerts include Weeks 18 to 21, covering the entire month of May; Week 11 in March, and Weeks 13 and 17 during April.
Three yellow alerts are also seen during the fourth quarter of 2023.
However, DOE stated that should the diesel power plants, which have a capacity of 420 MW, be operational, it could trim down the projected yellow alerts from 12 to one during Week 18 in the month of May.
“But running diesel power plants is very expensive and will mean [an] increase in cost per kilowatt-hour. Thus, we suggest demand-side management,” DOE said.
Among the companies include China Energy International Group Co. Ltd (Energy China), China Power International Development (CPID) Ltd., SPIC Guangxi Electric Power Co., Ltd (a subsidiary and a secondary unit of State Power Investment Corporation Limited or SPIC, China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), China Huadian Engineering Co., Ltd (CHEC), China Tianying, Inc. (CNTY), Dajin Heavy Industry Co., Ltd (DHI), and Mingyang Smart Energy Group, Ltd, the DOE said in a separate statement.
“We are very pleased with the enthusiasm we have received from these Chinese companies during our roundtable meeting. They were upbeat with our policy reforms and directions on RE, especially on the opening of 100 percent foreign ownership on wind and solar projects,” Energy Secretary Rafael Lotilla said.