MANILA, Philippines — Warning that the region’s severe energy instability will remain a “prolonged problem” without a major structural overhaul, state officials are sounding the alarm over the central islands’ electricity framework. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Sharon Garin declared that the Visayas grid is in dire need of new baseload and mid-merit power plants to prevent chronic power shortages.
The policy briefing comes amid a bruising summer stretch that has seen the Visayas grid subjected to 20 yellow alerts and 4 red alerts since the beginning of the year.
The Visayas region is currently the most renewable energy-dependent territory in the Philippines, with clean sources—predominantly solar, wind, and geothermal—accounting for a staggering 45 percent of its total power supply (far outstripping the national average of 25 percent).
However, Garin explained that this progressive energy mix has inadvertently triggered a severe grid vulnerability:
[ THE STRUCTURAL ENERGY MISMATCH ]
│
▼
[ 45% Renewable Dependency (Solar & Wind) ] ──► Heavily subject to weather changes and zero-sun hours.
│
▼
[ Intermittent Supply Fluctuations ] ──► Deeply unreliable for sustaining high, flat-line urban demand.
│
▼
[ Extreme Reliance on External Power ] ──► Forces the Visayas to constantly "import" power from
Luzon and Mindanao via subsea interconnection cables.
│
▼
[ Emergency Mid-Merit & Baseload Void ] ──► Lacks local, continuous-fire facilities to smooth out
hourly generation drops.
To resolve the gap, the DOE is prioritizing a dual-layered plant expansion: Mid-merit plants will act as rapid “gap fillers” that can fire up instantly when solar or wind levels fluctuate during the day, while baseload plants will provide a constant, unbreakable baseline supply of electricity 24/7.
The urgency of Garin’s warning was highlighted by yet another yellow alert raised by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) on Monday afternoon. The latest crunch was triggered because four major coal-fired power facilities remained completely offline, knocking nearly 600 megawatts (MW) of continuous power out of the regional ecosystem.
The state’s current restoration timeline reveals that relief will not happen overnight:
[ COAL PLANT OUTAGE & REPAIR LOG ]
│
┌──────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────┐
▼ ▼ ▼
[ KEPCO SPC UNIT 2 ] [ PANAY ENERGY UNIT 3 ] [ THERMA VISAYAS 1 & 2 ]
• **Capacity:** 100 MW • **Capacity:** 150 MW • **Capacity:** 169 MW per unit
• **Status:** Scheduled to resume • **Status:** Engineering crews estimate • **Status:** Facing major structural
normal operations immediately on a full online return by **July 3, setbacks; units remain offline
**Tuesday, June 2**. 2026**. until **August 22 and 30**.
Fixing the core Visayas power crisis will require deep patience from consumers. Garin admitted that building conventional baseload facilities carries an intensive three-to-five-year construction timeline, which frequently lags behind rapidly growing regional economic demand and transmission upgrades.
| Stopgap Mitigation Project | Immediate Targeted Output | Operational Status Matrix |
| Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection | 450 MW transfer load | Currently running at absolute maximum capacity to keep central Visayan lights on. |
| Mactan Battery Energy Storage (BESS) | 30 MW reserve cushion | Currently undergoing active testing and commissioning stages in Cebu. |
| Modular Diesel Generator Sets | 20 MW peak assistance | The DOE is actively negotiating direct procurement to buffer localized urban circuits. |
| Power Bunker Barges | 70 MW mobile generation | Under strict technical evaluation to deploy as floating emergency coastal assets. |
Beyond scrambling for stopgap diesel sets and mobile power barges, the DOE is fast-tracking the pipeline for conventional and natural gas projects to secure long-term stability through 2028 and beyond. In the interim, energy officials are calling for strict demand-side management, urging households and corporate hubs to lean heavily into conservation initiatives like the “Oras Natin sa Efficiency” program. Without a conscious reduction in daily peak-hour consumption, the Visayas will remain tethered to an expensive, fragile energy lifeline—relying on neighbor islands for baseline survival until its own local concrete power foundations can finally be poured.
