2 coal power plants to go online to boost Visayas grid

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Two of the largest coal-fired power plants in Cebu will be reactivated starting next month as the government races to address the thinning power supply of the Visayas grid.

Unit 3 of Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC) is expected to go online this July 6, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).

Once reactivated, it will bring in an additional 150 megawatts (MW) of power to the grid.

READ MORE: DOE backs ‘energy emergency’ declaration in Cebu amid strained Visayas grid

Meanwhile, the two units of Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI) are on track to return to operations this August, said Energy Usec. Mario Marasigan.

“Unit One is scheduled to be online on August 30, while Unit Two will be one week ahead, on August 22,” Marasigan said during a recent press briefing.

Short-term solutions

For their part, the Energy Department vowed to consumers and stakeholders that interventions have been made to improve the power situation in the Visayas.

“Hopefully, the additional technologies and short-term solutions can provide an additional 260 MW (to the Visayas grid),” Marasigan said in a mix of Tagalog and English.

The region’s grid had been facing multiple yellow alerts for seven consecutive weeks as a result of high electricity demand and forced outages of no less than 20 power plants.

READ MORE: Brace for rotational brownouts as Visayas grid under red alert again

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