Manila: The unavailability of four coal-fired power plants continues to affect the capacity in the Visayas grid, resulting in another yellow alert status for Thursday, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

According to Philippines News Agency, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), in an advisory, stated that the total capacity in the grid currently stands at approximately 2,478 megawatts (MW), which is insufficient to meet the contingency requirement as peak demand is projected to reach 2,291 MW. The affected units include Units 1 and 2 of the Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI), Unit 1 of Kepco SPC Power Corp., Unit 1 of Cebu Energy Development Corp., and the 82-MW Toledo Power Co. coal-fired plant, all of which remain on forced outage.

NGCP further reported that more than 20 other power plants have been unavailable since 2021, while 13 others are operating at reduced capacities, leading to a total loss of around 1,036.6 MW.

In a related issue, NGCP noted that the Itogon-Ampucao 23kV Line has been unavailable since 5:42 p.m. Wednesday due to the impact of Tropical Storm Maymay, internationally known as Kujira. This transmission line services the Baguio Electric Cooperative, affecting several areas, including Baguio City, Itogon, and Tuba in Benguet, as well as Sison in Pangasinan.

'NGCP has mobilized its line crews and is currently conducting patrols. Simultaneous restoration activities are also being conducted in areas already accessible,' the advisory stated. The grid operator explained that power loss might be due to affected transmission facilities of NGCP or distribution facilities of local utilities or electric cooperatives. Specific areas impacted by the power interruptions will be determined by the concerned Distribution Utilities unless the outage affects the entire franchise area.