Visayas, Mindanao grids on red alert Thursday as power plants fail

The Visayas and Mindanao power grids remain under red alert on Thursday due to multiple unavailable power plants amid high electricity demand, according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP). The Visayas grid faces a red alert from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., with available capacity at about 2,187 megawatts (MW) against a peak demand of 2,575 MW. Forced outages include Therma Visayas Inc. Unit 1 and Panay Energy Development Corp. Unit 3, while low electricity imports from Mindanao further limit supply. In Mindanao, a red alert runs from noon to 9 p.m., with available capacity at about 2,480 MW versus a peak demand of 2,546 MW. Six plants are on forced outage this month, including GNPower Kauswagan Units 1 and 2, contributing to a total capacity loss of about 841.6 MW.