Manila: A red alert is up for the Visayas grid from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, as capacity is not enough to meet both the demand and the grid's regulating requirement.

According to Philippines News Agency, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) announced that a yellow alert is also in effect from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. The alerts are due to the available capacity being approximately 2,312 megawatts (MW), while the peak demand is projected to reach 2,395 MW.

NGCP issues a yellow alert when the operating margin is inadequate against contingency requirements, and a red alert is raised when capacity is insufficient to meet both the demand and the regulating requirement of the grid. The current low capacity situation is attributed to the continued unavailability of the generating Units 1 and 2 of Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI), as well as Unit 1 of Kepco SPC Power Corp. (KSPC).

Additionally, electricity imports from the Mindanao grid have decreased due to increased demand on that grid. This month, eight power plants in the Visayas are unavailable, and 20 others have experienced forced outages over the past five years. There are also 13 other power plants operating on derated capacities, resulting in a total loss of around 896.3 MW to the grid.