QUEZON CITY, 5 August 2025 — In response to the recent yellow alerts raised in the Visayas and Mindanao grids, the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) underscores the recurring issue of unplanned outages, particularly among baseload coal power plants. Despite the ongoing rainy season, when electricity demand is typically lower, several plants continue to face reliability issues.

As of August 4, 2025, the following baseload power plants remained offline due to unplanned outages:

  1. DCPP Therma South Unit 1 (150MW, Coal): offline since July 31
  2. SMC Malita Unit 2 (150MW, Coal): offline since July 30
  3. FDC Misamis Unit 1 (135MW, Coal): offline since July 24
  4. Sarangani Energy Corporation Unit 2 (118MW, Coal): offline since July 31
  5. STEAG Unit 1 (116MW, Coal): offline since August 4
  6. Pulangi 4 Unit 3 (52MW, Hydro): offline since July 31 and went online in August 2
  7. Agus 1 Unit 2 (35MW, Hydro): offline since July 8
  8. Agus 6 Unit 1 (31MW, Hydro): offline since August 1
  9. Powersource Philippines Energy Corp. (20MW, Coal): offline since July 5

These outages are not isolated incidents. Unplanned outages have been occurring frequently, especially among coal-fired power plants. As ICSC has previously noted, coal plants are designed for steady and continuous operations as baseload plants. However, they are increasingly being forced to ramp up and down to meet variable demand in today’s grid operations, which accelerates wear and tear. This cycling can lead to more frequent breakdowns, higher maintenance costs, and declining reliability.

Planned outages also continue to reduce available grid capacity:

  1. Panay Energy Development Corp. Unit 1 (83MW, Coal): offline since July 22
  2. STEAG Unit 2 (116MW, Coal): offline since July 12 and went online in August 2

Moreover, several baseload plants were also operating at derated capacity, further limiting the grid’s available supply:

  1. Unified Leyte Geothermal Plant: only 190MW available out of 538MW
  2. Tongonan Geothermal Power Plant: only 79.5MW available out of 120MW
  3. Mount Apo Unit 1 Geothermal Plant: only 43MW available out of 50MW
  4. Mount Apo Unit 2 Geothermal Plant: only 39MW available out of 50MW

While other generation technologies (such as from hydro and geothermal) also experience outages, the large capacity of individual coal-powered baseload units make their failure more disruptive to the grid’s operations. A single unplanned outage of a baseload coal plant can remove a significant amount of supply from the grid.This impact is further aggravated when multiple outages occur simultaneously, as seen in the August 1 and 4 grid alert incidents.

Since August 2, both STEAG Unit 2 and Pulangi 4 Unit 3 power plants returned online, adding to the power supply over the weekend. However, as demand increases during weekdays, continued outages from other plants could once again strain the system. If these units remain offline, grid alerts are likely to persist in the coming days.

Mitigating these risks requires urgent and decisive action from energy stakeholders. Ensuring strict compliance with the Grid Operating and Maintenance Program (GOMP) is a critical step toward minimizing unplanned outages and improving overall plant reliability.

Moreover, as multiple coal plants continue to exceed the outage limits set by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), even relatively newer facilities experiencing frequent forced outages. While consumers bear the high replacement costs from the spot market, penalties on power producers remain minimal. The ERC should consider imposing stricter penalties to hold generators accountable and discourage poor performance.

Lastly, the recurring grid alert across the country is not just a temporary supply issue; it signals a deeper systemic issue: the Philippines’ over-reliance on coal, which still accounts for around 60% of the power generation mix. Addressing this challenge requires moving away from large baseload coal plants and towards a more flexible and distributed energy system. 

We need to start diversifying our energy portfolio. We must prioritize, invest in, and expand the use of indigenous renewable energy sources such as solar and wind in the long run. These technologies not only strengthen the Philippines’ energy security, but also improves grid resilience and reduces the country’s exposure to global fuel price volatility.

ABOUT
The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities is a Philippine-based non-governmental organization that advances climate, energy, and low-carbon solutions to enable fair and climate-resilient development at the national and international levels.

CONTACT
Sanaf Marcelo, ICSC: media@icsc.ngo, +63 968 886 3466, +63 917 149 5649 

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