Hanoi (VNA) – The Philippines on May 14 warned of power cuts of up to seven hours across its two main grids as searing heat and power plant outages triggered the first back-to-back serious shortage warnings in two years.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) issued a red alert, warning of potential outages of up to seven hours in 32 areas across the Visayas grid, and hour-long outages in nine areas across Luzon, including the capital Manila.
A red alert is the highest warning level for the power system, indicating that supply can no longer meet demand. The red alert in Luzon, which began on May 13 after two major high-voltage transmission lines malfunctioned, has extended into a second day.
According to the NGCP, available power capacity in Luzon is more than 3% short of peak demand in Luzon and 6.9% short in Visayas. The corporation reported that 27 power plants have been temporarily shut down due to incidents since the beginning of May.
Meanwhile, the Department of Energy has urged power companies to resolve plant issues quickly and called on large businesses and government agencies to make efforts to limit their consumption. The department also requested the NGCP to submit a report on recent grid disruptions.
The NGCP said it expects sufficient power to be available on May 15 across its three main grids./.
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