The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has raised red and yellow alerts for the Visayas region and issued a yellow alert for Mindanao as of October 23, highlighting significant power supply challenges in both areas. This situation arose due to a number of power plants remaining offline, exacerbating the supply-demand imbalance.
In the Visayas, the issuance of a red alert was noted specifically for the time period between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., during which there was a peak estimated demand of 2,558 megawatts (MW), while available capacity was only slightly over 2,407 MW. Alongside the red alert, a yellow alert was in effect prior to this from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., and again from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m.
The challenges in the Visayas grid stemmed from a significant number of power plants being out of commission. A total of 23 plants were reported to be on forced outages, with another 19 operating at reduced capacities, resulting in a total of 606.6 MW unable to contribute to the grid. This situation was primarily exacerbated by the prolonged unavailability of two critical plants: Panay Energy Development Corporation Unit 3 and KEPCO SPC Power Corporation Unit 1. Additionally, limited power imports from Mindanao due to both planned and unplanned outages of some power facilities in that region were also noted as contributing factors.
In Mindanao, the initial yellow alert—which was expected to take effect from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.—was lifted earlier at around 1 p.m. this same day as some power plants came back online. Initially, there were reports of 21 plants on forced outages, in addition to three plants with derated capacities, culminating in 474.9 MW not available to the grid.
The reasons behind the yellow alert in Mindanao were attributed to unplanned outages affecting Therma South Inc. (TSI) Unit 1 and Pulangi 4 Unit 2, coinciding with scheduled outages of GNPower Kauswagan Ltd. Co. Unit 4 and TSI Unit 2. This complex interplay of outages demonstrated how tightly interlinked the performance of various power plants can impact regional electricity supplies.
Alerts issued by the NGCP serve distinct purposes: a red alert indicates that the power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand as well as the regulating requirements of the transmission grid, whereas a yellow alert suggests that the operational margin is inadequate to cover contingency requirements on the grid, signaling a potential risk for power shortages.
Frequently Asked Questions
What alerts were issued by NGCP on October 23 for the Visayas and Mindanao regions?
The NGCP issued red and yellow alerts for the Visayas grid, and a yellow alert for Mindanao.
What was the peak demand in Visayas compared to the available capacity?
The peak demand in the Visayas was estimated at 2,558 MW, while the available capacity was only 2,407 MW.
What reasons were cited for the power outages affecting the Visayas and Mindanao grids?
The outages were primarily due to the unavailability of specific power plants and limited power imports from Mindanao, alongside various planned and unplanned outages.
Reporting by Ashley Romero for Rapport Philippines. This report was prepared from available source material and reviewed for factual consistency. Further verified updates will be added as the newsroom receives them.