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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider The Economy devider NGCP warns of power supply risk in Visayas region

NGCP warns of power supply risk in Visayas region

Published May 19, 2026 03:33 pm
High-voltage transmission towers stand across the horizon in Pampanga on Wednesday, May 13. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines placed the Visayas grid under yellow alert status this week following the unplanned shutdown of three power plants. The central islands remain vulnerable to supply fluctuations as the region relies heavily on power imports from Luzon and Mindanao to meet surging seasonal demand. (Photo by Santi San Juan | Manila Bulletin)
High-voltage transmission towers stand across the horizon in Pampanga on Wednesday, May 13. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines placed the Visayas grid under yellow alert status this week following the unplanned shutdown of three power plants. The central islands remain vulnerable to supply fluctuations as the region relies heavily on power imports from Luzon and Mindanao to meet surging seasonal demand. (Photo by Santi San Juan | Manila Bulletin)
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) placed the Visayas power grid on a six-hour yellow alert on Tuesday, May 19, warning of a potential supply strain due to prolonged outages at three major coal-fired power facilities.
The grid operator said in an advisory that the alert will remain in effect until 9 p.m. following the reduction in generation capacity from Therma Visayas Inc.’s Units 1 and 2, as well as Panay Energy Development Corp.’s Unit 3 in Iloilo.
The deficits, combined with high forecast consumption across the region, have reduced the grid's operating cushions.
While NGCP noted that rotational brownouts are not immediately expected, it clarified that a yellow alert is triggered when the operating margin falls below the minimum contingency requirements needed to guarantee grid stability.
Available capacity in the Visayas region stands at 2,691 megawatts, leaving a narrow margin against an expected peak demand of 2,594 megawatts. Total capacity currently offline or unavailable to the regional network has reached 846.3 megawatts.
This month, about 12 power plants have been on forced shutdowns, one plant has been down since March, three plants since 2025, two plants since 2023, and one power plant has not yet gone back online since 2021.
Ten power plants are operating at derated capacities.
The DOE has already requested that generation companies resolve these plant trippings last week and is expecting more power capacity to come online in the near future. However, no statements have been made from the power generation units as of writing.
So far, the DOE has estimated more yellow alerts within the Visayas area this year, while Mindanao is projected to have six yellow alerts from September to November.

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