MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. urged all government agencies on Tuesday to ensure a stable power supply following the issuance of red and yellow alert statuses on the Luzon power grid. This directive comes in response to significant challenges posed by the loss of power generation capacity due to high temperatures.
According to Philippines News Agency, he has instructed the Department of Energy (DOE) to intensively monitor and coordinate with all relevant stakeholders to mitigate the situation effectively. "At this time, it is crucial that we all work together to ensure a stable power supply for the next couple of days. Let's adopt energy-efficient practices and stand together to overcome this challenge," Marcos stated. He also emphasized the importance of government offices setting an example in energy conservation and minimizing power usage.
DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla reported earlier on Tuesday that "extremely high temperatures" have impacted the operations of 31 power generation facilities, leading to the current alerts. These conditions prompted a red and yellow alert in the Luzon grid and a yellow alert in the Visayas grid. Lotilla noted that efforts are underway to restore these facilities to full operational capacity as quickly as possible.
Significant disruptions include the unexpected outage of Pagbilao Unit 1, which removed 382 megawatts (MW) of capacity from the Luzon grid. Overall, around 19 power plants with a combined capacity of 1,811.3 MW are currently non-operational, including several that have been offline since August 1, 2023. Additionally, in the Visayas grid, recent shutdowns include the 9-MW First Farmers Holding Corp., the 2.5-MW Victorias Milling Company, and the 13-MW Panay Diesel Power Plant 3-G, all of which ceased operations on April 15.