Visayas grid back on yellow alert after KSPC shutdown

Local

MORE than a week after the last yellow alert was issued, the Visayas power grid is once again under a yellow alert after the emergency shutdown of a generating unit at Kepco SPC Power Corp. (KSPC), adding to existing supply constraints in the region.

In an advisory issued Friday, July 31, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said a yellow alert will be in effect from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

During the one-hour alert period, the grid is projected to have an available capacity of 2,564 megawatts (MW) against an expected peak demand of 2,321 MW.

NGCP said the declaration was prompted by the continued unavailability of major coal-fired generating units, particularly TVI Units 1 and 2 and CEDC Unit 1, as well as the emergency shutdown of KSPC Unit 1 on July 30 due to a boiler tube leak.

A yellow alert is declared when the operating margin is not sufficient to meet the transmission grid's contingency requirement, indicating that while power supply remains available, the grid has limited reserves to respond to unexpected outages or sudden increases in electricity demand.

The latest advisory also showed that several generating facilities remain unavailable or are operating below their normal capacity.

According to NGCP, five power plants have been on forced outage since July, while three have remained offline since June and seven since May.

Other plants have also been unavailable since March, 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2021.

In addition, 14 generating units are operating on derated capacities, bringing the total unavailable capacity in the Visayas grid to 969 MW.

The latest alert comes just over a week after NGCP placed the Visayas grid under a similar yellow alert on July 24, when reserve levels also tightened due to the unavailability of TVI Units 1 and 2 and the shutdown of CEDC Unit 1 for a Grid Operating and Maintenance Program (GOMP) outage.

At the time, available capacity stood at 2,682 MW against a peak demand of 2,453 MW, with 763.5 MW of capacity unavailable due to forced outages and derated operations.

As of this writing, Visayan Electric has not announced any rotational power interruptions in connection with Friday's yellow alert.

NGCP, meanwhile, said in a statement that it continues to monitor the condition of the Visayas grid as generation reserves remain constrained.(MyTVCebu)