Visayas power grid placed under yellow alert again on July 7

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Visayas power grid is under a yellow alert once again on Tuesday, July 7, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. as demand continues to outpace generating capacity, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) reported.

Available capacity stood at 2,676 megawatts (MW) against a peak demand of 2,450MW during the two-hour window. That leaves a razor-thin operating margin insufficient to cover the grid’s contingency requirement, the threshold that triggers a yellow alert.

A total of 855.1MW remains unavailable to the Visayas power grid due to a mix of forced outages and derated capacities across dozens of power plants, NGCP added.

Plants on forced outage

NGCP data show that seven power plants went on forced outage this July alone. Four others have been down since June and seven others since May.

One plant has remained offline since March, three since 2025, three since 2024, two since 2023, and one since as far back as 2021.

READ MORE: Visayas grid gets relief – for now

On top of the outages, 16 other plants are running at derated, or reduced, capacities, further tightening the supply cushion available to the Visayas power grid.

Coal plants a key factor

Among the biggest contributors to the latest yellow alert is the continued unavailability of Visayas’ large coal-fired units, TVI 1 and 2. Their combined capacity typically anchors the region’s baseload supply.

Also weighing on the grid is the recent unavailability of several smaller plants: PDPP3 units C, E, and H, with a combined 37MW; EAUC 3, at 11.5MW; CPPC 7, at 6.3MW; and BDPP4, at 4MW.

NGCP also pointed to a rise in forecasted demand as a contributing factor to the tight supply outlook during the alert window.

What a yellow alert means

Under NGCP protocols, a yellow alert is declared when the grid’s operating margin, the buffer between available capacity and demand, is not enough to meet contingency requirements.

It does not necessarily mean power interruptions are imminent. But it increases the risk should any additional plant trip offline during the alert period.

Officials declare a red alert, the next level of alert status, when available capacity can no longer meet demand. That requires grid operators to implement manual load dropping to prevent a power blackout.

READ MORE: EXPLAINER: Color-coded grid alert statuses and what they mean

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