Two new power projects in Toledo City, Cebu and on Panay Island are expected to boost the energy supply of the Visayas grid, Department of Energy (DoE) Secretary Sharon Garin disclosed Tuesday.

Garin said several well-designed power plants are already in development, noting that while energy projects take time to complete, some facilities are expected to be finished within one to two years.

The push for new capacity comes amid recent grid disruptions that have placed both the Luzon and Visayas grids under stress. The supply issues led to yellow alert declarations in the Visayas and red alerts in previous weeks, triggering rotating power interruptions in parts of Cebu.

According to Garin, the Visayas grid currently sources about 50 percent of its power from renewable energy, making battery storage essential to manage the supply.

“If there is no sun, there is no solar power, so batteries are needed to help balance the grid,” Garin said, adding that the department has issued policies to strengthen energy storage development.

DoE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said about 1,132 megawatts of committed power capacity are expected to enter the Visayas grid by 2026. This includes 611 megawatts from solar projects and 469.5 megawatts from wind projects.

To help stabilize the grid as renewable energy capacity expands, the department is looking at around 110 megawatts of battery energy storage systems. Officials are also studying mid-merit plants to support grid reliability and planning green energy auctions for solar projects in the Visayas and Mindanao to accelerate renewable deployment.

Agency officials stressed that because the Visayas often depends on power transfers from Luzon during tight conditions, instability in the main island grid directly impacts supply security in the Visayas.

“We need a grid operator that can fully account for incidents like these and ensure accountability,” Garin said, citing that investigations are ongoing to determine responsibility for the transmission failures and to prevent a recurrence.