The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has issued a yellow alert in the Luzon Grid on Tuesday, July 11 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, due to a tripping of the San Lorenzo Natural Gas Power Plant Modules 50 and 60 worth 267 megawatts (MW) each, the Department of Energy (DOE) said.
Data from NGCP says that the available capacity stood at 12,705 MW, while the peak demand of the Luzon grid is 12,222 MW.
Because of the tripping incident this morning, the grid frequency dropped to 58.915Hz. The Department of Energy (DOE) has observed that its scheduled contingency reserve is currently lower than the level of the highest unit online.
A yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s regulating and contingency requirements, NGCP said.
Following the tripping, reports of local power interruptions at the NGCP and Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) feeders were made. However, they were quickly resolved at 1106H for MERALCO customers and 1004H for NGCP customers. The DOE is working with San Lazaro and other stakeholders to determine what caused the trip.
Generators that are on forced outages are, namely, SLPGC 1 @ 150MW, Ilijan Block A @ 600 MW, Ilijan Block B @ 600 MW, Ipower 1 @ 11 MW, La Farge 2 @ 6 MW, San Lorenzo 50 @ 266 MW, San Lorenzo 60 @ 264 MW (Total: 1,897 MW). Generators with de-rated capacities are Calaca 2 @ 170 MW, Sual 1 @ 300 MW, Masinloc 3 @ 300 MW, Magat HEPP @ 212MW, San Roque HEPP @ 336 MW (Total de-ration: 787 MW).
In a statement, MERALCO said that this interruption affected 500,000 customers in Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, Metro Manila, Quezon, and Rizal.
MERALCO added that the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) has been activated following the Yellow Alert and the energy company is currently securing de-loading commitments from big-load customers.
