The Department of Energy (DOE) is advancing new generation assets and a key transmission link to secure Panay Island’s power supply and support Western Visayas’ growth. Unveiled Tuesday, the plan targets 135MW baseload capacity by 2028, 270MW by 2029, 150MW by 2030, plus 220MW gas-fired flexible capacity by 2028 to serve rising demand. The Mindoro-Panay Interconnection will connect Visayas to Luzon’s grid via Batangas-Mindoro, enhancing reliability during outages and enabling cross-grid power sharing.
To ease current shortages, DOE is restoring forced-outage units—including Therma Visayas, Panay Energy, Therma South and GNPower Kauswagan facilities—due back September–October 2026 to rebuild reserves and cut alert risks. Medium-term measures add 253MW of ancillary services, including battery storage across five Visayas provinces, to stabilize supply gaps. Energy Secretary Sharon Garin stressed balancing immediate fixes with long-term infrastructure to sustain growth and public service. Meanwhile, NGCP placed Visayas Grid under alerts Tuesday: yellow 3–5PM, 7–8PM; red 5–7PM, with available capacity at 2,352MW vs peak 2,492MW. Twelve plants are down, 15 derated, totaling 962.9MW unavailable.
