DoE: No yellow alerts in May

THE Department of Energy (DoE) does not expect yellow alerts in May but said these could be triggered by unplanned power plant outages.

“For May, we have yet to see possible yellow alerts,” Energy Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara said in a virtual briefing on Monday.

However, Ms. Guevara said that grid alerts could still be raised in the event of a forced outage, particularly at coal-fired power plants, which typically encounter issues during the summer months.

“But if we are just to base it on the dependable capacity and the forecasted demand, supposedly we don’t have any yellow alerts,” she said.

A yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement.

On April 16, the Luzon grid recorded its first yellow alert this year following the outage of a major gas-fired power plant and some hydropower plants.

A yellow alert was also raised over the Visayas grid due to the lack of power imported from Luzon.

Fears that the Iran war-driven oil crisis could push up electricity prices have led business groups and a senior government official to call for the lifting of the moratorium on new coal projects.

Despite expressing openness to the proposal last week, Energy Secretary Sharon S. Garin said the moratorium on new coal projects will remain in place.

“The moratorium is staying. There’s no lifting of the moratorium. What the DoE is doing is to have them produce more electricity,” she said.

Ms. Garin said coal-fired power projects with permits secured before 2019 may still proceed or be completed.

In 2020, the DoE issued a moratorium on the development of new coal-fired power plants, except for those coal-fired power projects falling under the conditions for non-coverage. The move was aimed at helping the country reduce carbon emissions and hasten the shift to clean energy.

Ms. Garin said the DoE is also assessing coal-fired plants for possible retirement.

“What we are also doing is checking all our coal power plants to determine which ones already need to be retired, because many of them — even if they are cheap — end up costing more for our consumers if they keep breaking down,” Ms. Garin said.

Coal remains the dominant source in the country’s power mix, accounting for more than 60% of electricity generation, followed by renewables and gas. 

While the country is trying to move away from fossil fuels and transition to clean energy, Ms. Garin previously said the department plans to temporarily increase coal-fired generation amid energy pressures. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera