Visayas Grid on Yellow Alert Due to Coal Plant Outages

MANILA, Philippines — Forced outages at units of three coal-fired power plants prompted a three-hour yellow alert over the Visayas grid on Monday, leaving only a 151-megawatt margin between available supply and projected peak demand. The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines placed the grid under yellow alert from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Available capacity stood at 2,478 MW, while peak demand was projected to reach 2,327 MW. A yellow alert is issued when a grid's operating margin is insufficient to meet its contingency requirement. It does not necessarily mean power interruptions will occur. NGCP identified Therma Visayas Inc. Units 1 and 2, Kepco SPC Power Corp. Unit 1 and Cebu Energy Development Corp. Unit 1 as unavailable. The grid operator said more than 20 other generating units were also on forced outage, some since 2021, while 16 units were operating at reduced capacity. Luzon grid remains normal. The Luzon grid remained under normal conditions despite Tropical Depression Luis, which placed several areas in Northern Luzon under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1. NGCP said it had prepared communications equipment, repair materials and supplies and positioned line crews in strategic areas to support the immediate restoration of facilities if needed.