The administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. assured the public on Monday that electricity supply will soon be restored in areas affected by Typhoon Aghon after damaged power lines were fixed by power distributors and local governments.
“The Task Force on Energy Resiliency has also been monitoring the efforts of the plants na bumabalik. So kailangan lang ma-synchronize kasama ‘yung mga linya,” Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said in a virtual press conference at the DOE.
“So were’ monitoring this closely… parang makakabalik naman siya kasi the plants are okay, its more of the lines coming in naman ang nagiging issue. But rest assured everyone is working on this. Team work tayo para mabalik kaagad and the good thing is as mentioned by the Secretary (Lotilla) the efficient use of electricity will also contribute a lot,” he pointed out.
According to Fuentebella, the team work is not only for the linemen and power plant managers but also for the general public who now enjoy cooler weather, which will reduce energy consumption.
Energy officials said nine power plants were affected by Typhoon Aghon, shutting down their capacity to supply electricity due to the weather disturbance. A total of 23 power plants were not generating power, with 12 already shut down before the typhoon struck because they are either derated or offline.
In a statement, the Department of Energy (DOE) asks for cooperation from the public to use electricity efficiently in the Luzon grid, particularly after the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) issued a Red Alert notice from 4 p.m. – 10 p.m. and Yellow Alert from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. – 11 p.m. today.
Total capacity on forced outage is 4,281.3 MW while deration amounts to 216 MW.
Typhoon Aghon has caused a substantial decrease in available power supply in the grid at a time when the hydro power plants have not yet recovered from their low water supply, the agency said.
While the power supply is expected to improve in the coming days, the DOE encourages everyone to conserve energy in order to minimize dispatch of the more expensive oil-based power plants.
Commercial and industrial consumers are also encouraged to continue to participate in the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) of their distribution utilities, particularly Meralco.
Since Typhoon Aghon entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) last May 25, the 1,200 MW Ilijan power plant was on shutdown as its Floating Storage Unit (FSU) had to be disconnected and relocated for safety reasons.
On May 26, Pagbilao Units 1 and 2 with a total capacity of 764 MW and Unit 3 with a capacity of 420 MW went on shutdown due to the typhoon. PND
