ILOILO City – Panay Island is being lined up for a major expansion of its power supply, with 555 megawatts (MW) of additional baseload capacity expected to come online between 2028 and 2030 as the government moves to strengthen the island’s long-term energy security amid recurring supply constraints and high electricity prices.
The Department of Energy (DOE) said 135 MW of additional baseload capacity is expected in 2028, followed by another 270 MW in 2029 and 150 MW in 2030 — investments intended to provide more dependable electricity for households, businesses, industries and future economic expansion.
The region could also gain 220 MW of gas-fired mid-merit capacity by 2028, providing a more flexible source of electricity that can respond to fluctuations in power demand and supply.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said the projects form part of the government’s efforts to build a more reliable and flexible power system as Western Visayas’ economy and electricity requirements continue to grow.
Aside from additional generating capacity, the DOE is implementing the Mindoro-Panay Interconnection Project, which it considers a strategic component of the region’s long-term energy security.
Once completed, the project will connect the Visayas Grid to the transmission link between Batangas and Mindoro, establishing a critical loop between Luzon and the Visayas and allowing additional electricity to be transferred between the two grids.
The interconnection is expected to give the power system greater flexibility during supply shortages and power plant outages while strengthening the grids’ capacity to share available electricity and meet growing demand in Western Visayas and the rest of the Visayas.
PRICE CAP BRINGS IMMEDIATE RELIEF
While the additional generating capacity remains years away, the DOE welcomed the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) decision to apply the Secondary Price Cap (SPC) separately to the Visayas and Mindanao grids, giving consumers immediate protection from sharp electricity price increases during tight supply conditions.
The regional mechanism took effect beginning with the August 2026 billing period, addressing what the DOE described as a gap in the previous system-wide price-cap mechanism.
Under the previous arrangement, relatively lower electricity prices in Luzon pulled down the national rolling average, preventing the SPC from being triggered even when consumers in the Visayas and Mindanao were facing substantially higher prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
ERC simulations showed the regional SPC could slash the average August WESM price in the Visayas from P18.59 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to P8.47/kWh — a 54-percent reduction.
In Mindanao, the average could fall from P19.56/kWh to P8.69/kWh, or 56 percent.
“Consumers in the Visayas and Mindanao should not have to bear extraordinary electricity prices when supply becomes tight. The regional price cap gives them immediate protection, and alongside this measure, we are working to strengthen power supply: bringing unavailable plants back online, building up battery reserves,, and addressing recurring and prolonged outages,” Garin said.
The DOE also backed the ERC directive for the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation, through its Market Surveillance Committee, to examine the bidding, offer and dispatch behavior of generators during periods of unusually high electricity prices.
The department said it would continue coordinating with the ERC and other power-sector agencies and stakeholders to stabilize supply, monitor market conduct and ensure recalculated charges are properly reflected in consumers’ electricity bills.
OUTAGE RISKS BEING ADDRESSED
As longer-term projects are developed, the DOE is also facilitating the return of generating units currently on forced outage, including large plants operated by Therma Visayas, Inc. and Panay Energy Development Corporation in the Visayas, as well as Therma South Inc. and GNPower Kauswagan Ltd. Co. in Mindanao.
The generating units are scheduled to return to service in September and October 2026, a move intended to restore available capacity, rebuild reserves and reduce the risk of recurring Yellow and Red Alerts in the Visayas.
For the medium term, the DOE is facilitating the deployment of another 253 MW of ancillary service capacity across the Visayas, including battery energy storage system projects in Cebu, Leyte, Negros, Bohol and Panay.
These facilities are designed to respond rapidly when electricity supply suddenly drops, helping stabilize the grid and reducing the risk of service interruptions.
Taken together, the price-cap mechanism, restoration of unavailable generating plants, battery storage projects, new generation investments and grid interconnection are intended to address both the immediate and longer-term power requirements of Panay and the broader Visayas region./PN
