THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has granted the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) provisional authority to procure a battery energy storage system (Bess) in Mactan, Cebu from Aboitiz Power Corp. subsidiary, East Asia Utilities Corp.
In a news release issued Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, ERC said the provision authority for the ancillary services procurement agreement was issued even while NGCP is still completing the full review of the BESS unit.
“The Commission prioritized its action on this application in view of the tight reserve situation in the Visayas and the need to make additional firm reserves available to the grid. This is in support of the plan of the Department of Energy (DOE), led by Secretary Sharon Garin, to bring in battery storage as an immediate measure to help address the situation in the Visayas,” it said.
The DOE earlier tasked the NGCP to tap ancillary services to help address the yellow and red alerts in the Visayas grid, caused by low capacity amidst high demand that resulted from the forced outage of several power plants.
ERC said the Visayas grid registered 123 yellow and red alerts from January to early September this year.
DOE Undersecretary Mario Marasigan on Monday said immediate procurement of Bess and power barges is among the immediate solutions to the Visayas grid’s low capacity situation, especially with the very strong El Niño already affecting several provinces.
He also expressed hope that power projects set to go online until next year will be on schedule to provide the needed capacity amid high demand because of the dry spell. / PNA