Visayas grid placed under yellow, red alerts

MANILA, Philippines - The Visayas grid was placed under red and yellow alerts yesterday due to the sudden shutdown of major coal-fired plants and limited power imports from Mindanao.

The red alert was hoisted from 5 to 9 p.m., while the yellow from 4 to 5 p.m. and from 9 to 10 p.m., according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

A red alert status is raised when power supply is insufficient to meet the demand of the consumers.

Peak demand in the Visayas yesterday was 2,346 megawatts while available capacity was only 2,109 MW.

The insufficient power supply was caused by the shutdown of Units 1 and 2 of the Therma Visayas Inc. as well as the Unit 3 of the Panay Energy Development Corp.