The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said it may implement manual load dropping (MLD) in several areas in the Visayas on Thursday evening to protect the integrity of the power system amid multiple plant outages.
In an advisory, NGCP said the preventive power interruptions may be implemented from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in parts of Cebu, Negros, Samar, Iloilo, Aklan, Antique, Capiz and Guimaras.
Areas affected include those served by Visayan Electric Company, Mactan Electric Company, MORE Electric and Power Corporation, Negros Electric and Power Corporation, as well as several electric cooperatives in the Visayas.
NGCP said the measure was necessary to prevent the overloading of the Daanbantayan-Tabango 230-kilovolt Line 2 following the unplanned outages of several power facilities.
These include CENPRI Diesel, PDPP1 Unit 5, PDPP3 and PGPP2 Unit 1, which resulted in a combined capacity loss of 74 megawatts (MW).
The grid operator also cited the continued unavailability of major coal-fired power plants in the Visayas, namely TVI 1, TVI 2 and PEDC 3.
NGCP said the implementation of manual load dropping may still be cancelled if system conditions improve, particularly if electricity demand falls below projections.
The company urged consumers to conserve electricity to help stabilize the grid during peak hours.
