The Department of Energy (DOE) has revealed that more outages are possible in the coming days following last Monday’s power disruption in several parts of Luzon caused by forced outages of five power plants.
In a virtual press conference on Tuesday, Energy Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said yellow alerts in the Luzon grid are anticipated for the entire month of May, but these might not push through if the Ilijan power plant resumes operations.
“Once Ilijan operates, this (projection) will change. If that power plant comes in, the yellow alerts will be reduced,” Guevara said.
“We expect it to come in on May 26, but we do not expect all 1,200 MW (megawatts) by May 26. They will gradually increase it unit by unit,” she said.
The DOE eyes a total of 15 weeks under yellow alert status for the Luzon grid in 2023, and none under red alert status.
Guevara bared that weeks under yellow alerts could turn into red alerts if major power plants break down similar to what has transpired on Monday.
Moreover, the agency noted that an overall improvement in power outlook is expected with the resumption of operations of San Miguel’s natural gas plant in Batangas later this month.
