The Visayas power grid was placed under a yellow alert today, Tuesday, marking the seventh alert issued in the region this month due to ongoing power plant outages and reduced electricity supply.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said the yellow alert is in effect from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
A yellow alert means the power reserve in the grid has dropped to a low level, raising the risk of supply shortages if demand suddenly increases or more plants go offline. A red alert, meanwhile, is declared when available power can no longer meet consumer demand and rotating brownouts may occur.
As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, NGCP reported that the Visayas Grid had an available capacity of 2,691 megawatts (MW), only slightly above the projected peak demand of 2,594 MW.
The tight power situation is blamed on the continued unavailability of several power plants in the region. According to NGCP, 12 plants have been on forced outage since this month alone, while other facilities have remained offline since previous years, including one since 2021.
In addition, 10 power plants are operating at reduced capacity, resulting in a total of 846.3 MW of unavailable power supply for the Visayas Grid.
The latest alert means the Visayas Grid has now been under yellow alert for seven days in May — from May 12 to 16, and again from May 18 to 19. The grid was also placed under red alert during certain periods from May 13 to 15.
The Luzon Grid also experienced power supply issues this month, with yellow and red alerts raised from May 13 to 15.
The repeated alerts highlight ongoing concerns over the reliability of the country’s power supply, especially during periods of high electricity demand and limited generating capacity.
