‘Grid alerts expose persistent cracks in Philippines power system’

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s electricity system remains vulnerable to disruptions due to its heavy reliance on large power plants, a weakness highlighted by recent grid alerts in Luzon and Visayas.

This was what the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) underscored after both Luzon and Visayas experienced grid alerts last Thursday as major power plants went offline.

The ICSC emphasized that the strong dependence on a few large power plants continues to make the country’s energy system “less flexible and unreliable.”

“Even short-term outages or plants operating below normal capacity can quickly reduce available reserves and affect grid stability,” the think tank said.

Last week’s yellow alert was the first for Luzon and the second for Visayas this year, latest National Grid Corp. of the Philippines data show.

The alert in Luzon was attributed to the tripping of major liquefied natural gas plants and the unavailability of hydroelectric facilities due to scheduled maintenance operations.

Limited power reserves in Luzon disrupted electricity imports to Visayas, also prompting the declaration of a yellow alert.

Some 50 power plants across the two regions were on forced outage last Thursday, while 27 others operated at a derated capacity.

“This underscores how closely overall system conditions are tied to the performance and location of major generating units,” the ICSC said.

“While these plants contribute to meeting demand, the situation highlights the importance of ensuring that new capacity is planned and distributed in a way that strengthens system resilience and minimizes the impact of localized disruptions,” it added.

This year’s first yellow alert was raised over the Visayas grid in January, a period typically marked by low demand.

A yellow alert is issued when the power supply is on the verge of becoming insufficient. It means there is a tight supply, but there is still enough capacity to meet consumer demand.

If conditions worsen, this may escalate to a red alert, which is raised when supply can no longer meet demand and the grid’s contingency requirements.

“To break the cycle of grid alerts, the Philippines must move towards a more decentralized, diversified and flexible power system, where the outage of a single facility does not put the entire grid at risk,” the ICSC said.