Visayas grid to gain additional power capacity as DOE moves to ease recurring alerts

Local

THE Visayas grid is set to gain additional power capacity in the coming months as the Department of Energy (DOE) rolls out short- and medium-term measures to address recurring yellow and red alerts caused by multiple power plant outages.

DOE Undersecretary Mario Marasigan said the Visayas sub-grid has been under continuing yellow and red alerts since May 12 due to the unplanned shutdown of several major generating facilities.

Despite the supply constraints, Marasigan expressed optimism that the situation will improve by early July with the expected commissioning of the 150-megawatt (MW) Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) Unit 3.

"Hopefully, with the coming in of PEDC Unit 3 on July 3, then yellow and red alerts will be gone together with the newly installed battery energy storage system," he said.

Three major generating units are still undergoing restoration, including two units of Therma Visayas Inc. with a capacity of 169 MW each and PEDC Unit 3.

Marasigan noted that ongoing restoration efforts have already reduced the number of hours under yellow alert and lowered the magnitude of supply deficiencies in the grid.

However, he said the situation was complicated by the latest outage of Korean SPC Power Corp. (KSPC) Unit 2, which went offline again at 8:43 a.m. on Sunday due to a monitoring-related issue.

"They are looking at possibilities of restoring the facility by June 19. Towards the weekend, we will see the restoration," he said.

To help bridge the supply gap, the DOE is coordinating with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) on the immediate deployment of additional generating resources.

Among the measures being considered are around 170 MW of battery energy storage systems to be distributed across Cebu, Negros and Panay, a 20-MW modular diesel generator set, and the transfer of a power barge from Metro Manila to Panay Island.

These projects are expected to provide about 260 MW of additional capacity to the Visayas grid.

For the longer term, Marasigan said the DOE is pursuing new power generation projects, including Therma Visayas Unit 3, which is already under construction, and the proposed second unit of Palm Concepcion Power Corp. (PCPC), which is under study for immediate development.(MyTVCebu)