Visayas grid under red alert as demand exceeds capacity

TAGBILARAN CITY — The Visayas power grid was placed under Red Alert from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 7, as available power supply fell short of projected electricity demand, according to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

The grid was placed under Yellow Alert from noon to 1 p.m. and from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

READ: Visayas grid remains vulnerable to brownouts

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As of 1:30 p.m., the Visayas grid had an available capacity of 2,284 megawatts (MW) against a demand of 2,470 MW, leaving a supply shortfall of 186 MW.

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NGCP said 11 power plants were on forced outage, while 15 plants were operating at derated capacities, resulting in a total of 919 MW of generating capacity unavailable to the grid.

Of the plants on forced outage, five had been unavailable since August, one since July, two since June, seven since May, three since 2025, two since 2024, two since 2023, and one since 2021.

NGCP identified the unavailability of the Visayas’ large coal-fired power plants, Therma Visayas Inc. (THVI) 1 and Panay Energy Development Corporation 3, as one of the major factors behind the Red and Yellow Alert declarations.

The generating capacity of THVI 2 was also reduced by 70 MW because of a main steam problem, further limiting the supply available to the grid.

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Another factor was the limited power import from Mindanao, which NGCP said was due to an increase in the demand forecast in Mindanao.

The Red Alert declaration means the power system is operating with insufficient reserve capacity to meet demand and contingencies, raising the possibility of power interruptions if the supply situation worsens.