The Philippine Online Chronicles

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced Monday afternoon that they managed to avoid implementing rotational one-hour blackouts today in Metro Manila and neighbouring provinces after sufficient power supplies were generated, according to media reports.

"We did not implement any rotating interruptions in our franchised areas,"  Meralco spokesman Joe R. Zaldarriaga told gmanews.tv.

Zaldarriaga said the 1,200 megawatt (MW) Ilijan power plant owned by Korea Electric Power Corp. was able to generate an additional 450 MW this morning, while the actual peak demand for the Luzon grid was reduced by about 200 MW, Business World reports.

In a statement given this afternoon, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said the Luzon grid has 246 MW in reserve power due to the power generation of the Batangas Ilijan plant.

The plant is now generating 900 MW for the Luzon grid, said Jesusit H. Sulito, senior adviser to the president of the NGCP.

Ilijan Block A is expected to generate an additional 300 MW within the day, the NGCP said.

Meralco earlier announced that the rotational blackouts would be implemented from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday "due to the insufficient generation power capacity of power generation suppliers."