PJ Vinoya, senior business development manager of COREPLUS, a subsidiary of Vivant Energy's COREnergy, said the challenges facing the Visayas power grid were structural rather than seasonal, requiring businesses to prepare for prolonged uncertainty in electricity supply and costs.
Vinoya cited recurring grid alerts, power plant outages, rising electricity demand and volatile electricity prices as factors contributing to the region's energy challenges.
"Businesses need to look beyond the direct cost of electricity. Voltage dips and outages, equipment wear, downtime, inefficient loads, and planned expansion all affect operations, and these are factors businesses can act on," Vinoya said.
He made the assessment during SIDLAK CEBU: Building Business Resilience During Energy Volatility, a forum organized by COREPLUS that gathered around 50 business owners and industry professionals at JEG Tower in Cebu recently.
Recurring power shortages
The warning comes as Cebu and other parts of the Visayas continue to face power supply shortages that have triggered recurring yellow and red grid alerts and rotational brownouts.
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) issued a yellow alert from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Oct. 19 after available generating capacity stood at 2,524 megawatts (MW), against projected peak demand of 2,449 MW, leaving a margin of only 75 MW.
A total of 29 power plants were on forced outage, including units that had been unavailable since as early as 2021, while another 18 plants were operating at reduced capacities.
These outages and capacity reductions left a combined 699.2 MW unavailable to the Visayas grid.
Among the major contributors to the yellow alert were the unavailability of two large coal-fired generating units—Panay Energy Development Corp. Unit 3 (PEDC 3) and KEPCO SPC Power Corp. Unit 1 (KSPC 1).
Electricity imports from Mindanao were also constrained by the planned outages of GNPK Unit 4 and Therma South Inc. Unit 2 (TSI 2).
A yellow alert is issued when the grid's available operating margin falls below the required contingency reserve, leaving limited capacity to respond to unexpected power plant outages or sudden increases in demand.
Shortly before 6 p.m. on Oct. 19, NGCP issued another advisory warning of possible manual load dropping in Cebu, Negros, Panay, Leyte and Samar to maintain grid stability amid limited electricity imports from Mindanao.
The continuing supply constraints highlight the vulnerability of businesses to power disruptions and reinforce calls for companies to improve energy efficiency and strengthen their internal electrical infrastructure.
Strengthening power systems
Against this backdrop, the COREPLUS forum highlighted measures businesses could undertake to improve energy efficiency, identify electrical system risks and strengthen their power infrastructure.
These include conducting electrical safety audits, upgrading power distribution equipment and exploring renewable energy technologies, including solar power and battery energy storage systems.
Jonas Mapili, chief operating officer of FV Mapile, discussed the importance of electrical safety audits in identifying potential hazards, assessing existing equipment and determining areas requiring improvement.
Dorcas Jay Regalado, COREPLUS head of engineering, explained how compact secondary substations could help businesses strengthen their internal power distribution systems and accommodate growing electricity requirements.
Renewable energy options
Romeo Cubangbang Jr., COREPLUS head of solar, discussed the factors businesses should consider before investing in solar energy systems, including their electricity requirements and the suitability of available technologies.
Representatives from Huawei and Jinko Solar also presented solar technologies and solutions suited to the specific requirements of commercial and industrial facilities.
Participants had opportunities to consult technical experts about their facilities' energy requirements and potential improvements to their existing systems.
Managing energy risks
COREPLUS, a subsidiary of COREnergy, provides energy engineering and technical services to commercial and industrial facilities.
Its services include electrical audits, system maintenance, energy efficiency retrofits, energy management system integration, and solar power projects combined with battery energy storage systems.
Melo Del Gallego, COREPLUS assistant vice president for business acceleration, said businesses should take a more proactive approach to managing their electricity requirements rather than simply responding to disruptions and price fluctuations.
"The current energy landscape calls for businesses to be more proactive about understanding and managing their energy needs. At COREPLUS, we want to help businesses move from simply responding to energy challenges to preparing for them—by bringing together the right expertise, technologies, and solutions for their specific requirements," Del Gallego said.
The company said strengthening internal electrical infrastructure and adopting appropriate energy technologies could help businesses reduce operational risks, manage electricity costs and improve their resilience amid continuing uncertainty in the Visayas power sector. —Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
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