MANILA – Energy think tank Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) has called for a faster shift toward distributed renewable energy and battery storage to resolve recurring power grid instability in the Visayas region.
The group said its call follows prolonged supply shortages in Visayas, which recorded 134 yellow or red alert days as of mid-September 2026, comprising 94 yellow and 40 red alerts. ICSC cited unplanned and extended outages across major coal-fired power plants—which generate about 60 percent of the nation's electricity—as the primary trigger for the crisis during peak demand hours.
Major facilities including Therma Visayas Inc., Panay Energy Development Corp., and Cebu Energy Development Corp. have suffered extended shutdowns ranging from days to several months, severely compounding grid instability and driving up market spot prices.
ICSC stressed that building more centralized, long-lead coal plants will arrive too late and cost too much. Instead, pairing rooftop solar with battery energy storage systems (BESS) provides fast-ramping power closer to consumers during peak hours.
According to Department of Energy simulations, deploying 200 megawatts of BESS capacity could cut yellow and red alerts in half.
“Battery energy storage systems should not be treated merely as a short-term fix to the unfolding power crisis in Visayas—they are the core solution on both the short and long-term,” said Alberto Dalusung III, ICSC’s Energy Transition Advisor.
“When paired with renewable energy, battery storage directly bridges the critical supply gap without waiting years for new generation and transmission projects to be built. We can act now because these technologies can be deployed rapidly to meet our immediate energy needs," Dalusung added.