NGCP wants more ILPs to ease load requirements

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) urged more participants under the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) to help ease load requirements and address imminent power shortages in the grid during high demand times.

The grid operator was directed by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi to pursue its ILP to address the recent spate of power deficiencies.

The ILP is a demand side management scheme set by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to ease the impact of tight supply during yellow and red alert periods.

“We want to make sure that power supply remains stable and reliable, most especially when supply is critical. Right now, the best and quickest way to do this is to work hand-inhand with our partners, and fully implement the ILP,” NGCP said.

Last July, the Luzon grid was placed under yellow and red alerts as several power plants tripped, resulting in power interruptions.

Under the ILP, consumers such as large malls, industrial plants, and economic zones use non-grid sources of electricity such as generator sets.

NGCP’s Directly Connected Customers ( DCC)— such as large malls, industrial plants, and economic zones—may voluntarily enter into an agreement, where they may be requested to run back-up generators to partially decrease or completely cease drawing power from the grid in times of an electricity supply shortage.

“Theoretically, any consumer connected to the grid who also has a back-up generation unit is a potential ILP supplier,” NGCP said.

Once these customers use their gensets, NGCP is able to minimize or prevent manual power curtailment or load dropping when there is not enough power in the system, specifically when the system net operating reserve is less than 350 megawatts.

Participating DCCs will be compensated for the internally generated power by NGCP through a formula provided by ERC.

The ILP was initially developed in 2010 by the ERC for implementation by distribution utilities in Visayas and Mindanao to address the imminent power shortage in said regions.

In 2014, the ERC also allowed Meralco to implement the same program within its franchise area. The program was further extended to other distribution utilities, ecozones, and NGCP’s directly connected customers in 2015.