Visayas: A two-hour yellow alert has been raised over the Visayas grid on Thursday due to low power supply, according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP). The alert is in effect from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., NGCP said.

According to Philippines News Agency, a yellow alert is issued when the grid's operating margin falls below the required contingency reserve. As of 8 a.m. Thursday, the available capacity in the Visayas grid was about 2,505 megawatts (MW), against a peak demand of about 2,290 MW, NGCP stated.

The grid's capacity has been affected by the continued unavailability of Unit 1 of Therma Visayas Inc. and Unit 3 of Panay Energy Development Corp. NGCP reported that 12 power plants are currently unavailable in September. Additionally, another 21 plants have been unavailable for five years, while 14 are operating at reduced or derated capacities.

The total capacity loss is estimated at 820.6 MW, NGCP noted.