Despite forecasts of ‘yellow alert’ that could strain Luzon grid, the Department of Energy (DOE) is trying to lean on a 700-megawatt supply buffer or reserve margin to avert incidents of electricity service interruptions during the October 30 Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) and barangay elections.

The department stated that the prevailing demand level only hovers at 10,500 megawatts to 11,500 megawatts; and if that is reckoned with available capacity of more than 12,259MW, there would still be margin for reserve in the vicinity of 700MW.

Apart from holiday declaration during the election period, there is also hope for relatively lower demand by next week due to the cyclical lower temperatures in these months of the year.

“Electricity consumption during the fourth quarter period is generally lower. With this, we have a buffer of at least 700 MW,” the agency emphasized.

The DOE stressed “safeguarding the energy needs of the country during the critical electoral process is our foremost concern and we have enlisted the full cooperation of all our stakeholders in the generation, transmission and distribution sectors in this endeavor.”

Blackout-marred elections would typically compromise the integrity of the poll results, hence, reliable supply is one core area that the government has been giving prime attention to as Filipinos troop to the precincts to exercise their political rights through the ballots.

Drawing from numbers and the overall condition in the main power grid of Luzon, the DOE sets out assurance to the public on “the availability of sufficient power supply across the country before, during and after the elections,” adding that “measures are in place to prevent any unscheduled power outages that may disrupt the voting, as well as the counting process.”

Relative to projections of possible two instances of yellow alerts or a condition in the electricity system manifesting insufficiency of power reserves, the department noted that its Energy Task Force Election “has been instructed early on to coordinate with the generating companies and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to ensure the availability of generating units to meet the demand and required reserves during said period.”

Accordingly, the agency has ordered “suspension of preventive maintenance and testing of generating units one week before and after the elections.”

In addition, the DOE-manned task force has been intensifying coordination with the generation companies and the NGCP “to facilitate the timely completion and seamless entry of power projects, as well as critical transmission line projects, should there be any.”

For system operator NGCP, in particular, it has been primarily directed to utilize “the high voltage direct current (HVDC) and the Mindanao Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) during peak hours to balance the power supply and demand system of the grid.”

And at the level of the distribution utilities, the mandate of the DOE is for them “to deploy special and emergency line crews to check lines for any obstructions, and to ensure that all necessary and correct connections are installed within their franchise areas.”