By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Visayas power grid under red alert anew on Thursday evening after widespread power plant outages slashed available electricity supply, leaving the region with insufficient reserves to meet peak demand.
The red alert will be in effect from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., while yellow alerts were declared from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and again from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., signaling a tight power supply situation across the Visayas.
NGCP said the grid’s available generating capacity stood at only 2,561 megawatts (MW) against an expected peak demand of 2,568 MW, falling below the reserve level required to ensure stable power transmission.
The shortage was largely blamed on the continued shutdown of several generating facilities, including Units 1 and 2 of Therma Visayas Inc. and the Palm Concepcion Power Corporation power plant, both considered major contributors to the Visayas grid.
The grid operator reported that 10 power plants are currently out of service this month, adding to a growing list of offline facilities—four since June, seven since May, one since March, three since 2025, three since 2024, two since 2023, and one that has remained unavailable since 2021.
Compounding the situation, 14 other power plants are operating below their normal generating capacity, resulting in a combined unavailable capacity of 959.3 MW.
A red alert is declared when the power reserve falls below the required contingency level, increasing the possibility of rotational power interruptions if another generating unit unexpectedly goes offline. A yellow alert indicates that reserves are below the prescribed level but the grid can still meet existing electricity demand.
Power authorities continue to closely monitor the Visayas grid as consumers and businesses brace for possible outages during Thursday’s peak evening hours.
ia/xf
