Luzon is forecast to have adequate gross reserves of about 1,463 megawatts today but Visayas is expected to register thin reserves of 6 MW, according to the power situation outlook of National Grid Corp.
National Grid, which operates the country’s power grid, said Luzon would have an available capacity of 11,045 MW on Monday against the peak demand of 9,582 MW.
National Grid, however, said the figures were “subject to change depending on actual conditions.”
Visayas will have a peak demand of 1,750 MW versus the available capacity of 1,756 MW.
Viyasas’ generation capacity has been tight due to the derated supply from several power plants, namely 164 MW from 164 MW, 70 MW from the Leyte Geothermal Power Plant and 408 MW from Energy Development Corp.
Mindanao is forecast to continue to suffer power outages resulting from a generation deficiency of 22 MW.
Mindanao is seen to have an available capacity of 1,437 MW on Monday versus the system peak of 1,459 MW.
Mindanao needs an additional capacity of 500 megawatts this year as the region’s electricity demand surges due to rapid economic growth in recent years.
Romeo Montenegro, director for investment promotions, international relations and public affairs of the Mindanao Development Authority, said Mindanao had been enjoying a robust economic performance in recent years, contributing 20.7 percent to the national economy in 2014.
The Energy Department, meanwhile, lauded participants of the Interruptible Load Program for their cooperation in hurdling a critical power supply situation in Luzon on Friday.
Under the ILP, big load customers of distribution utilities and electric cooperatives registered in the program run their stand-by generation sets in times of energy supply deficiency to prevent outages.
The ILP was implemented in the Meralco area on April 15 to stabilize the power supply situation following the “red alert” notice of NGCP from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Friday last week.
“With ILP, the peak demand was arrested at a lower level of 9,416 MW. A total of 247 MW of power was deloaded from 121 participants, so an estimated 290,000 customers in Metro Manila and nearby provinces were spared of rotating brownouts,” it said.
The high and increasing heat index triggered the unusual rise in demand for power, where requirement in Luzon alone reached around 9,700 MW to breach historical records.
“In this line, the DoE earnestly calls on the cooperation of electricity consumers to be efficient users not only during the summer period, but all throughout the year. Historically, power consumption spikes during hot summer months as more consumers spend time in their homes and use cooling equipment to make them feel comfortable,” it said.