NGCP warns of tight power supply in the summer

ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / 21 March)—The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines Power (NGCP) has warned the public of “thin power supply” in the summer “due to higher demand in 2023.”

_{Linemen fixing power lines in Davao City. MindaNews file photo by BOBBY TIMONERA}

The NGCP, in a press statement emailed to reporters on Monday, said that while its projections “show no occurrence of yellow or red alerts, there are weeks between March and April where operating margins are below required levels due to higher demand and planned outages of plants.”

It added that “there are instances of forced or unplanned outages of plants which may disrupt the normal operations of the grid and warrant the issuance of yellow or red alerts.”

For the Mindanao grid, the NGCP noted that actual peak demand in 2022 occurred on June 1 at 2:42 p.m., reaching 2,167 megawatts. The forecast peak for 2023 is expected at 2,395MW, which is a 10.52-percent increase.

Forecast peak for Luzon is at 13,125MW, or an 8.35-percent increase during the peak in 2022, reaching 12,113MW on May 12 at 2:29 p.m. For the Visayas, expected peak is at 2,691MW, or a 16.19-percent increase compared to the actual peak on September 14, 2022, which reached 2,316MW. (Marivic Omandam Davis / MindaNews)