Visayas: The unavailability of three major coal-fired power plant units triggered another yellow alert over the Visayas grid from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) reported that the available capacity stood at 2,691 megawatts (MW), while peak demand was projected at 2,438 MW.
According to Philippines News Agency, a yellow alert is issued when the operating margin falls below the level required to meet the grid's contingency requirements. The NGCP attributed the alert partly to the forced outages of Units 1 and 2 of Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI) and Unit 3 of Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC). These latest outages have further strained the grid, which has been operating with reduced capacity due to the forced shutdown of multiple power plants over the past several years.
The grid has been under pressure since May 2026, with 11 power plants forced to shut down. Additional shutdowns include one plant since March 2026, three plants since 2025, two plants since 2024, two plants since 2023, and one plant since 2021. Furthermore, the NGCP indicated that 13 power plants are currently operating on derated capacities, leaving a total of 852.1 MW unavailable to the grid.
