Power demand could further increase in May after it reached a peak of 9,301 megawatts on April 24, surpassing the 2024 and 2025 forecasts, the country’s largest distributor said Monday.
Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) data showed that actual peak demand in 2023 was at 8,438 MW. Forecasted demand for 2024 was at 8,791 MW and for 2025 at 9,226 MW.
Meralco senior vice president and head of networks Froilan Savet said the difference in peak demand from last year was 863 MW, higher than the capacity of the highest generating unit (GNPD with 668 MW) in the Luzon grid.
“The demand is expected to rise further in the coming weeks as we enter May, which typically marks the peak demand of the year,” Savet said.
Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan called for the construction of more conventional power plants to meet the increasing demand amid scorching temperature, which resulted in red and yellow alerts in the grid.
“You really have to build more capable, more capacities in the system. To be able to accommodate these… let’s say unexpected changes that could happen, that is now happening,” Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.
Pangilinan said participants of the interruptible load program (ILP) helped reduce demand but it is not a sustainable scenario.
He said the lack of available capacity also impacted on the prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the trading floor of electricity.
“”There’s supposed to be in a vibrant spot market, and we can’t do that with sufficient real and dependable capacities available. And we’re paying for that in terms of very, very thin reserves,” Pangilinan said.
He said the renewable energy power plants being built today have low capacity factor thus there is a need for baseload capacities such as coal or gas.
“Whether it be the coal or gas, again, there’s got to be some guidance given to us as to where we should turn,” Pangilinan said.
“We need conventional, dependable power plants. So, that we don’t get these crazy situations when one particular large plant is down,” he said.
Meralco executive vice president and chief operating officer Ronnie Aperocho said the company anticipates a challenging power supply situation throughout the dry season, coincidental with the El Niño phenomenon.
“We remain vigilant as we work with energy industry players in implementing demand-side management programs to help lessen the strain on the power grid and continuously deliver stable and reliable service to consumers. We also continue to proactively encourage more participants to join the ILP, which embodies bayanihan among private sector players, as this proves to be valuable during this critical season,” he said.