Visayas power reserves seen tighter in third week of August

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Power reserves in the Visayas are expected to tighten significantly in the third week of August, according to data from the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

Between August 17 and August 21, the Visayas grid will face much slimmer operating margins than those projected at the start of the month.

Margins are expected to fall to as low as 120 megawatts (MW) early in the week. The margins reached more than 230 MW on Aug. 3 to 7.

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The operating margin serves as a buffer of available electricity left after meeting projected peak demand.

Thin reserves of Visayas power

For Aug. 17 to 21, the grid projections show an operating margin of 122 MW on Monday, 120 MW on Tuesday, 128 MW on Wednesday, 133 MW on Thursday, and 226 MW on Friday.

The average operating margin for the five days is about 146 MW, roughly 37 percent lower than the 233-MW average projected for Aug. 3 to 7.

The outlook is particularly tight from Monday through Thursday, when the projected operating margin falls below NGCP’s 153-MW required dispatchable reserve.

The Visayas expects to receive substantially less power from Mindanao through the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP).

Power from Mindanao and Luzon

Mindanao imports may reach 180 MW on Monday, 160 MW on Tuesday, 140 MW on Wednesday. and 160 MW on Thursday before rising to 408 MW on Friday.

The reduced Mindanao imports are partly offset by higher imports from Luzon through the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link. Officials had attributed the reduction to the outage of several generating plants in Mindanao.

According to projections, the Visayas will receive 250 MW from Luzon from Monday through Thursday. No Luzon import is listed for Friday.

Despite these additional imports, officials project total supply at 2,522 MW on Monday and 2,502 MW on Tuesday. Peak demand for those days may hit 2,400 MW and 2,383 MW, respectively.

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