Visayas grid still not fully clear of yellow alerts despite normal operations, DOE says

Local

THE Visayas power grid remains at risk of yellow alerts in the coming weeks, even as additional capacity is expected to come online by the end of July, the Department of Energy (DOE) warns.

In a virtual press briefing on Monday, July 20, energy regulators said that the region’s power system continues to remain normal after a weekend of no yellow alerts.

However, DOE will still closely monitor the Visayas grid system.

Yellow alerts last week mostly occurred on weekends but were managed without triggering unplanned manual load dropping, said Energy Usec. Mario Marasigan.

In other words, while the power grid remained fragile, no wide, rotational brownouts—one of the mechanisms for manual load dropping—occurred during that period.

"We still see possible yellow alerts in Visayas, but we expect relief soon as additional resources come in toward the end of the month," Marasigan said.

Among the incoming resources are several battery energy storage system (BESS) projects nearing completion, including a 40-megawatt (MW) facility in Leyte and a Cebu project by Aboitiz Corp. that was initially planned at 30 MW but has been scaled down to 10 MW.

Additional capacity from Panay may also come online soon, he said.

Marasigan also said the DOE is also collating buffer capacity for reserves and ancillary services in the coming months.

For smaller island grids, including Catanduanes, Occidental Mindoro and Palawan, conditions remain stable but are being closely watched.

In response, the DOE has begun drafting master plans for the power systems of Mindoro and Panay, alongside consultations with local government units, as it evaluates numerous proposals for new generation capacity in those areas.

The agency is also studying the possible interconnection of off-grid areas to strengthen the broader grid system.(RBE)