High demand amidst the low capacity has resulted to the issuance of red and yellow alerts for the Visayas and Mindanao grids on Monday, August 31.
The red alert for the Visayas grid is up between 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and the yellow grid is between 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., according to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
For the Mindanao grid, the yellow alert is up between 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
NGCP issues yellow alert when a grid’s operating margin is short against the contingency requirement, while a red alert is up whenever capacity is short against the demand and the grid’s regulating requirement.
Available capacity in the Visayas grid is around 2,059 megawatts (MW) while peak demand is projected to reach 2,305 MW.
Supply is limited due to the unavailability of several power plants such as Units 1 and 2 of the Therma Visayas Inc., and Unit 3 of the Panay Energy Development Corporation.
NGCP said nine power plants in the Visayas are not working this month alone, while 20 others are on forced outage as far back as 2021.
It said 18 other power plants are working on derated capacities, limiting the supply by around 981.9 MW.
NGCP said low electricity import from Mindanao grid is also affecting supply in the Visayas.
Supply in the Mindanao grid is affected by the forced outage of Unit 1 of the Therma South Inc. and Unit 1 of the GNPower Kauswagan.
Available capacity in the grid during the day is placed to be around 2,517MW while peak demand is expected to hit 2,376 MW.
NGCP said 20 power plants in Mindanao are on forced outage for this month alone, while nine others are unavailable since 2024.
Also, five power plants are working on derated capacities, bringing the total loss in the grid to around 804.1 MW.
Capacity in the Visayas grid is below its requirements, thus, it imports electricity both from the Mindanao and Luzon grids.*PNA
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