ILOILO CITY: The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) has announced that it has fully restored power in Western Visayas (Region 6) following a partial blackout on Friday evening, March 1.

NGCP has confirmed the full restoration of all affected feeders on Panay island and the normalization of transmission operations at 12:26 a.m. on Saturday. Power was also restored in Negros Occidental at 8:48 p.m. on Friday

In its latest advisory, the transmission service provider said that it is currently serving a total of 270.3 megawatts (MW) to the Panay grid, with 167.9 MW being provided by Panay power plants and augmented by 102.4 MW from sources elsewhere in the Visayas.

NGCP said the power interruption in Western Visayas on Friday evening was caused by the "unplanned shutdown" of the Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) units at 6:59 p.m.

NGCP reported that PEDC units 1, 2 and 3, capable of generating 316 MW, experienced tripping off, resulting in the power outage.

"The unavailability of all PEDC units and the maintenance shutdown of Palm Concepcion Power Plant until March 30, 2024, led to the partial blackout in Panay," NGCP said.

PEDC, situated in Lapaz, Iloilo City, also confirmed in an advisory that its units tripped off Friday evening.

It successfully synchronized its units 1 and 2, each capable of generating 83 MW, to the grid at around 10 p.m.

Antonio Cabalhug Jr., first vice president for Panay Site Operations of PEDC, explained in an interview with a local radio station that they need replacement parts for unit 3 of their plant due to premature wear on their equipment.

He highlighted that before this, the Cebu-Negros-Panay backbone project must be fully operational to provide the necessary megawatts to compensate during the temporary shutdown of the unit 3.

Meanwhile, NGCP refuted claims that the tripping of any of its facilities caused the current partial blackout in Negros and Panay.

"The line in the video was undamaged by the fire, which was 15 meters away from the transmission tower," it said.

NGCP was referring to the grass fire that occurred near one of its transmission towers in Buhang, Jaro.

"The transmission asset also did not trip or register a disturbance prior to the successive generator shutdowns," the NGCP said.

"The fire has been extinguished and poses no further threat to the transmission facility," the transmission service provider added.

The Bureau of Fire Protection in Iloilo City confirmed that the grass fire, which started at around 6:28 p.m., was extinguished at 7:22 p.m.

It can be recalled that a power outage also affected Panay island in the first week of January this year.

Nine out of the 26 feeders of MORE Power are offline as of this writing.

It can be recalled that a power outage also hit Panay island in the first week of January this year.