Visayas and Mindanao power grids face supply strain

In early July, the Visayas region’s electricity network was placed under a yellow alert, while the neighboring Mindanao grid reported stable supply. By early August, the situation had worsened: outages at several coal‑fired plants and the tripping of two 138‑kV transmission lines forced the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines to issue a red alert from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., indicating insufficient power to meet demand. After the lines were restored, the alert was downgraded to yellow, but thin reserves persisted. Additional yellow‑alert advisories were later issued as four coal‑fired units remained offline, leaving the grid short of the peak demand of 2,291 MW despite a total capacity of about 2,478 MW. Restoration crews continued to address the outages, highlighting ongoing supply challenges in the Visayas power system.

By September 2026, the instability expanded to include the Mindanao grid. The Visayas recorded 123 yellow and red alerts between January and early September. On September 4, both the Visayas and Mindanao regions faced red alert conditions. In the Visayas, a red alert from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. was driven by 815.8 MW of unavailable capacity due to forced outages at TVI 1 and PEDC 3, compounded by limited imports from Mindanao. Simultaneously, Mindanao experienced a red alert from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. due to unavailability at coal plants GNPK 1, GNPK 2, and TSI 2.

The Department of Energy is pursuing short-term measures, such as deploying diesel power barges and approximately 200 MW of battery energy storage systems. Energy Secretary Sharon S. Garin noted that long-term relief via new baseload capacity in Panay and Cebu is expected between 2028 and 2030.