Manila: The continued unavailability of several major coal-fired power plants has once again placed the Visayas grid under a yellow alert status on Tuesday, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

According to Philippines News Agency, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) reported that the grid's available capacity stands at 2,470 megawatts (MW), while the peak demand has reached 2,329MW. The unavailability of Units 1 and 2 of Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI), Unit 1 of Kepco SPC Power Corp. (KSPC), and Unit 1 of Cebu Energy Development Corporation (CEDC) has significantly contributed to this alert status.

Furthermore, the coal-fired Toledo Power Company (TPC) experienced a forced outage on Tuesday, exacerbating the already constrained capacity of the Visayas grid. This situation compounds the challenges posed by the over 20 power plants that have remained unavailable since 2021.

The NGCP also highlighted that 16 additional power plants are currently on forced outage, resulting in a total loss of approximately 1,062MW. In response to these challenges, Department of Energy officials have indicated that measures are being implemented to address the situation, including the utilization of power barges from private generation companies to enhance capacity.