Grid operator National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said Wednesday it expects Luzon’s power demand to hit an all-time high of 11,403 megawatts this year.
Under the Energy Department’s power development plan, demand is seen to rise 4.85 percent this year from the actual peak demand of 10,876 MW recorded on May 28, 2018.
“The demand for power has been increasing year-on-year. With DoE’s forecast breaching 11,000 MW, NGCP’s system operations are working round-the-clock to ensure the sufficient supply of power during the critical summer months,” NGCP said.
NGCP said it was constantly coordinating with power generating plants to make sure that the maintenance schedule would not coincide with the peak periods during summer months when demand is high.
NGCP said it was expecting a peak demand in Luzon in April and May amid the rising temperatures.
Visayas and Mindanao also reached new highs in terms of peak demand in 2018. The Visayas grid peaked at 2,053 MW on May 24 last year, while the Mindanao grid had a peak demand of 1,853 MW on Dec. 13.
The Energy Department expects the Visayas load to increase 11.98 percent this year to 2,299 MW while demand in Mindanao is estimated to reach 2,130 MW by the fourth quarter of 2019.
Energy officials assured that there would be enough supply to address the increase in demand as more power plants were expected to come online this year.
NGCP also assured stakeholders that it was continuously developing the power grid to accommodate additional loads from power generators and enable better transmission of power across the country.
“We are expediting the completion of projects aimed to accommodate this increase in demand. NGCP appeals for the support and cooperation of local government units and the public as we hope to complete these projects at the soonest possible time to prevent any negative impact on power supply during the dry season ahead,” the company said.
NGCP urged the public to use energy more efficiently especially in the dry months when the power supply is lean. Most hydropower plants have lower generation capacity during the dry months while demand goes up, resulting in tight supply.
NGCP is a Filipino-led privately-owned company in charge of operating, maintaining and developing the country’s power grid. It is led by majority shareholders Henry Sy Jr. and Robert Coyiuto Jr.