(Photo by PGLena)
ILOILO CITY — The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is pushing for a mandatory system to track rooftop solar installations, warning that unrecorded units could pose risks to grid stability.
NGCP Assistant Vice President and public relations head Cynthia Perez-Alabanza said Thursday that the grid operator still lacks a complete picture of privately installed solar systems.
“If there are enough solar installations that NGCP does not know about and there is a sudden cloud cover, it’s as if a large plant connected to the grid falls and the NGCP has to manage,” Alabanza said during a media forum in Iloilo City.
She said sudden weather changes could sharply reduce solar generation and complicate the balancing of electricity supply and demand.
NGCP launched a voluntary data-sharing initiative with distribution utilities and electric cooperatives last year, but Alabanza said a mandatory government policy would provide more reliable information for long-term grid planning.
The growth of solar generation has also shifted peak electricity demand from around 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., when solar output begins to decline.
Alabanza said government facilities such as schools and barangay halls could be prioritized for solar installations because their electricity demand is generally highest during daylight hours.
She added that NGCP is ready to provide technical data and recommendations if the government reviews the country’s power generation mix, particularly on managing the variability of renewable energy sources.
Meanwhile, NGCP Assistant Vice President for Visayas Systems Operations Neil Martin Modina said solar accounted for 10.3 percent of the Visayas power supply as of May 14, while coal contributed 43.5 percent and geothermal energy 36.5 percent.
Modina said future energy-mix projections should be assessed on a per-island basis to help maintain grid balance as the country pursues its renewable energy targets of 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.
