Visayas, Mindanao grids placed on red alert on September 3, 2026

The Visayas and Mindanao power grids were placed under red alert status on Thursday, September 3, due to tight power supply, according to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

For the Visayas grid, red alert will be in effect from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., while yellow alert will be raised from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The grid has an available capacity of 2,187 megawatts (MW) against a projected peak demand of 2,575 MW.

NGCP said the alert status was partly due to the unavailability of the Visayas' large coal-fired power plants TVI 1 and PEDC 3, as well as limited or unavailable power imports from Mindanao.

Meanwhile, the Mindanao grid will be under red alert from 12 noon to 9 p.m., with yellow alert from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The Mindanao grid has an available capacity of 2,480 MW, compared to a projected peak demand of 2,546 MW.

NGCP attributed the alert declaration to the unavailability of Mindanao's large coal plants GNPK 1 and 2 and TSI 2.

According to the NGCP, six plants in Visayas were on forced outage as of September, while several others had been unavailable since previous months and years.

Another 16 plants were operating at derated capacities, resulting in a total of 792 MW unavailable to the grid.

In Mindanao, six plants were on forced outage in September, with others having been unavailable since August and earlier months and years.

Seven plants were also operating at derated capacities, leaving a total of 841.6 MW unavailable to the grid.

“A red alert status is issued when power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the transmission grid’s regulating requirement,” the NGCP said.

“A yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement,” it added. —VAL, GMA News