The Energy Regulatory Commission ordered the temporary suspension of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market for the Luzon grid effective 1:05 pm Monday due to insufficient generation capacity after power plants were affected by typhoon Aghon.
The ERC has directed the Independent Market Operator of the Philippines , operator of the WESM, the trading floor of electricity, and the NGCP to operate the market and the power system according to the applicable provisions of the WESM Rules and the ERC Order dated April 30, 2024. The NGCP placed the Luzon grid on red and yellow alerts for several hours on Monday as around 4,497.3 megawatts of capacity is unavailable to the grid due to the typhoon Aghon.
NGCP placed the Luzon grid on red alert from 4pm to 10 pm and yellow alert from 1pm to 4 pm and 10pm to 11 pm as available capacity was placed at 12,326 megawatts compared to the peak demand of 11,455MW. Coal-fired power plants are also derated such as Sual 1, Calaca 2, Masinloc 1. NGCP assured that the Visayas and Mindanao grids are in normal condition.
Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said typhoon Aghon also exposed the vulnerability of the country’s liquefied natural gas facilities. DOE undersecretary Rowena Guevara said that if the situation does not improve, specifically if the plants that went offline because of the typhoon do not come back by next week, “probably we’ll have a red alert also next week.”
Kalayaan Unit 4 with a capacity of 180 MW also tripped on Monday morning. The DOE said the Ilijan/Linseed FSU is undergoing berthing and attachment. The DOE said the floating storage and regasification unit of First Gas continues to supply the grid despite the typhoon.