NEW YEAR NIGHTMARE: Massive power outage hits Western Visayas anew

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

Western Visayas residents yet again find themselves grappling with the challenges of a dark and humid night, and the uncertainty on when the power will be restored  following a region-wide power outage on the second day of the New Year.

The system disturbance and the widespread outages in Panay Island, including Guimaras and Negros Island, was caused by multiple power plants tripped, according to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

“The cause of the multiple tripping is unknown,” the transmission service provider said in a statement.

The tripping was first monitored at the Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC) Unit 1 due to an “internal issue”.

This system disturbance cascaded to Unit 2 of PEDC, Palm Concepcion Power Corporation, and other power plants in Panay Island.

The tripping of the generating units and distribution utilities is isolated from the rest of the Visayas grid.

The NGCP reported that the Negros-Panay interconnection also experienced power tripping at 3:07 p.m., but it was promptly restored by 3:24 p.m.

As of 7 p.m. on Tuesday, all power plants in Panay Island cannot still generate power.

Some distribution utilities in Panay Island are currently relying on electricity supply from a sub-scale of the Negros-Panay interconnection, diesel power plants, and the 180 megawatts (MW) feedback power extended by the NGCP.

The transmission service provider noted that 452 MW is currently unavailable to the Panay grid due to a loss of 302 MW, along with an additional 150 MW on the planned maintenance shutdown of PEDC Unit 3.

“Load restoration will be done conservatively, by matching loads to restored generation, to prevent repeated voltage failure,” the NGCP added.

A yellow alert was raised from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. since a a low operating margin still persists in major plants in Panay. A yellow alert status means that the system’s overall power reserves are insufficient to meet its requirements.

The NGCP mentioned that distribution utilities in Panay Island could implement load drops due to voltage-sensitive loads or manual disconnection to secure voltage levels.

MORE Electric and Power Corporation, the electric distribution utility of Iloilo City, cautioned its consumers for an extended period before it can return to full capacity.

It said that Iloilo City residents can expect round-the-clock rotational brownouts until the base load of its coal power plants fully recovers.

Meanwhile, the Department of Energy stated that it is closely coordinating with NGCP and all affected generation plants and distribution utilities,

“We assure the public that power restoration is of priority,” it said.

The Energy Regulatory Commission said it is also investigating the incident.

It can be recalled that a system disturbance caused power outages in Negros and Panay from April 27 to 29, 2023.