Mindanao Grid Under Yellow Alert Due to Coal Plant Unavailability

The Mindanao grid in the Philippines will be placed under a yellow alert on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, due to the unavailability of some coal plants, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) announced. The yellow alert status will be in effect from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., indicating a reduced operating margin. According to NGCP, the grid will have an available capacity of 2,731 megawatts (MW) against a peak demand of 2,600 MW during this period. The primary reason cited for the reduced capacity is the unavailability of Mindanao's large coal plants, GNPower Kauswagan Ltd. Co. 2 and 3. Furthermore, NGCP reported that 13 plants are on forced outage in September, with seven having been on forced outage since August, four since July, and others since June, January, and even as far back as 2025 and 2024. Additionally, six other plants are operating at derated capacities. These outages and derated capacities have resulted in a total of 769.7 MW of unavailable capacity for the Mindanao grid. A yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid's contingency requirements, signaling a potential for demand to outstrip supply and increasing the risk of load shedding in certain areas. This situation highlights ongoing concerns about the reliability of Mindanao's power supply, which has previously impacted economic activities and daily life in the region. Source: GMA Money Philippines