The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines said it recorded the highest peak load in Luzon this year at 2:14 p.m. Tuesday when the demand reached 11,513 megawatts.
IEMOP, the operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, attributed the higher load to the resumption of business operations, along with the expected recovery of the economy.
The previous peak load was registered at 11,392 MW on March 17 at 2:29 p.m.
IEMOP noted that the demand in the grid had been rising since the lowering of alert levels and easing of community quarantine restrictions within the major areas in Luzon.
It said while the demand has yet to reach the Department of Energy’s projected Luzon annual peak of 12,387 MW during the dry months, the peak demand on Tuesday is already near the 2021 actual peak of 11,601 MW.
“Likewise, the peak demand recorded for the month has already surpassed its counterpart figures during the same month last 2020, which was during the pre-pandemic period,” IEMOP said.
It said the same pattern was evident in the Visayas with its highest peak being recorded on the same day at 2,124 MW, almost within the pre-pandemic levels.
The agency said the Visays peak demand is still below the DOE’s forecast of 2,528 MW for the region.
“Despite the increasing trend, supply remains to be sufficient to meet the demand system requirements. During the observed highest peak demand, there was around 12,136 MW supply in the Luzon grid and 2,396 MW in the Visayas grid,” IEMOP said.
IEMOP said that as of March 23, there was an adequate supply available with the average supply amounting to around 13,962 MW.
IEMOP said the Luzon grid had an average supply of 11,719 MW and the Visayas grid at 2,244 MW.
“IEMOP will continue to monitor the interaction of supply and demand in the system especially during this dry season and the upcoming national elections,” it said.
The Department of Energy issued an advisory to all concerned government agencies to mandatorily implement energy efficiency and conservation programs. It also called for the strict observance of the Government Energy Management Program guidelines.
“We issued this advisory to highlight the role of energy efficiency and conservation (EEC) in ensuring the sufficiency of petroleum products’ supply amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said in a statement.
The DOE said the strict implementation of the GEMP, which aims to achieve at least 10-percent savings in electricity and fuel consumption, would help mitigate the adverse impacts of the Russia-Ukraine crisis and also help secure the availability of electricity during the hot dry season, especially during the national and local elections.