Phl Grid Code strictly followed, NGCP insists

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) maintained that it “simply followed” the protocols set by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in responding to the multiple plant shutdowns in Panay on Jan. 2 that led to a widespread blackout in Western Visayas.

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In a statement, the power transmission operator said that based on its own records and system data, it saw no abnormality in system voltage from the time between the shutdown of Panay Energy Development Corp. 1 (PEDC-1) at 12:06 p.m. and the subsequent shutdown of Palm Concepcion Power Corp. (PCPC) at 2:19 p.m.

 Citing Section 6.2.3.4 of the Philippine Grid Code, NGCP said that in instances where there is an unplanned outage of a plant but the system remains stable, manual corrective intervention should not be imposed to anticipate the occurrence of a second event.

NGCP added that disengaging loads manually or disconnecting thousands of households from their supply of power in anticipation of a subsequent grid event is prohibited under the rules.