ICSC: Recurring grid alerts show deeper reliability issues in coal plants
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: DCPP Therma South Unit 1 (150MW, Coal): offline since July 31 SMC Malita Unit 2 (150MW, Coal): offline since July 30 FDC Misamis Unit [...]
El Niño ups chances of yellow alerts in Luzon by mid-May – ICSC
QUEZON CITY, April 16, 2024 – The Luzon grid is expected to experience a tight power supply in May, particularly from May 13 to 26, potentially leading to yellow alerts as El Niño threatens the country’s power sufficiency this dry season. Manila-based think tank Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) launched the report entitled “Philippine Power Outlook: Reviewing the Adequacy of Power Supply for April to June 2024” today, which examined power supply projections in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao based on the power demand and supply outlook presented by the Department of Energy (DOE). It also delved into [...]
[Klima Reports] Renewables best option for cheap energy in Mindanao
Assistant Secretary Romeo Montenegro, deputy executive director of the Mindanao Development Authority (Minda), loves to remember the time, not so long ago, when electricity rates in Mindanao hovered at P6 per kilowatt-hour, the lowest in the country. This was when hydroelectricity generated from the waters of Agus and Pulangi rivers made up the bulk of the region’s energy supply. The Agus and Pulangi plants had a combined installed capacity of 1,001.1 megawatts.
[Klima Reports] Regreening Mindanao grid
In the shift to renewables, all hands should be on-deck, from government actors, private stakeholders, the academe, and the community. In this two-part story, our Klima Fellows Germelina Lacorte and Barry Ohaylan speak with academics and engineers from the Ateneo de Davao University to learn about their efforts in greening their university and in extension, Davao City and Mindanao.
US ties up with Lopez-led EDC to study geothermal potential [BusinessWorld]
A UNITED States agency is providing Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. (EDC) a grant of $413,120 to do a feasibility study for the development of a geothermal power plant in Mindanao. In a press release published on its website, the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) said it launched along with US Vice President Kamala Harris the grant — valued at P23.56 million in the local currency — to study the geothermal potential of the southern island’s Amacan area.