Restoration of coal-fired plan improves Visayas energy outlook – NGCP

Local

THE restoration of the 150-megawatt (MW) Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) Unit 3 coal-fired power plant has significantly improved the Visayas power outlook, easing weeks of supply concerns brought about by major plant outages.

Amado Otarra III, senior supervisor for Network Operations at the Visayas System Operations of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), said PEDC Unit 3 returned to service on July 1, adding 150 MW back to the grid.

Its return marked the first day since May 11 that the Visayas Grid did not experience a yellow alert, following nearly two months of recurring supply deficiencies caused by forced outages at several major baseload power plants.

Otarra said the Visayas grid remains heavily dependent on imported electricity, receiving up to 250 MW from Luzon and 450 MW from Mindanao to meet demand.

As of July, the Visayas has an available capacity of 2,599 MW against a peak demand of 2,411 MW.

However, about 935.3 MW remains unavailable due to forced outages and derated generating units, including several aging power plants.

“There will be no more yellow alerts issued because, again, yellow alert is defined as if the reserve is less than the capacity of the highest unit online. And take note, since PEDC has already come back, our reserve should be at least 150 or higher. So the scenario now has changed. With one big plant that came back online, that now becomes the reference of our contingency reserve,” Ottara explained during the NGCP-organized Power 101 forum on Thursday, July 2.

While renewable energy continues to expand, Otarra said solar power alone cannot ensure grid reliability.

The Visayas now hosts more than 20 solar power plants with nearly 800 MW of installed capacity.

However, solar generation peaks only around midday before dropping to zero by evening, while cloud cover can quickly reduce output.

He added that solar facilities have a capacity factor of only about 16 percent, meaning just 16 MW of every 100 MW of installed capacity can be relied upon consistently.

"Infusing more solar plants without any corresponding plants to supplement them will become a very big challenge to the stability of the grid," Otarra said.

He stressed that batteries can provide only short-duration support and are not enough to replace dispatchable power during evening peak demand.

NGCP expects Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI) Units 1 and 2, each with a capacity of 169 MW, to return to service by the first week of September, further strengthening the region's power supply.

Otarra said the Visayas needs additional baseload plants and a balanced energy mix to ensure long-term grid reliability.

"We really need baseload plants to supplement and establish grid stability," he said.(MyTVCebu)