The time households choose to iron clothes or run a vacuum cleaner could help ease pressure on the Visayas power grid, particularly during evening hours when solar generation is no longer available.
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) Engr. Amado Otarra III urged consumers to move electricity-intensive household activities to daylight hours, when solar power is available, during his appearance before the Mandaue City Council.
Otarra said solar generation accounts for nearly 35% of the Visayas’ total electricity supply, helping meet demand during the day.
The situation becomes more challenging in the evening, when electricity demand remains high but solar power is no longer available.
He specifically encouraged consumers to schedule activities such as ironing and vacuuming during the daytime whenever possible.
“If pwede na siya natong ibalhin og oras nga naay solar, hayag or adlawan, makatabang ta og paubos sa demand sa mga oras nga kuwang ta og supply,” he said.
Otarra said the impact may appear small when done by only a few households, but the combined effect could become significant if more consumers make the shift.
Moving high-power activities to periods when solar generation is available could also help ease demand during times when additional electricity may need to be sourced from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), where prices can increase when supply is tight.
Meanwhile, Otarra said power supply conditions in the Visayas could improve from mid-November through December as several power plants are expected to return from preventive maintenance.
Among the units expected to return by November are Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI) Unit 1, with a capacity of 169 megawatts; Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) Unit 3 in Panay, with 150 megawatts; and KEPCO SPC Power Corp. (KSPC), with 103 megawatts.
However, Otarra said some power plants remain under preventive maintenance, while others that had resumed operations were forced to shut down again after technical problems were detected.
He said continuing to operate a plant despite an identified problem could result in a more serious failure and potentially affect grid stability.
The sudden loss of a generating unit could result in more than 100 megawatts of power loss or shortage, depending on the capacity taken offline.
Despite the expected return of several generating units, Otarra said NGCP cannot guarantee that rotational brownouts will completely stop because the power plants are privately owned and their operations are beyond the grid operator’s control.
The agency is nevertheless expecting potentially better supply conditions toward the latter part of the year as generating units return to service.
For consumers, Otarra’s advice remains straightforward: whenever possible, use appliances that consume more electricity during daylight hours, when solar generation can help meet demand.
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