The Department of Energy (DOE) said that 6,841 megawatts (MW) of new power plant capacity is scheduled to go online this year.
Data released by the agency over the weekend showed the upcoming power supply will be reinforced with 330 MW of battery energy storage capacity to be operational this year.
The additional power plant capacities coming online nationwide consists of 3,930 MW from solar farms, 1,320 MW from natural gas, 773 MW from wind sources, 500 MW from coal, 107 MW from hydro; 104 MW from geothermal, 76 MW from oil-based fuel, and 31 MW from biomass.
The bulk of these will be streamed from Luzon equivalent to 5,754 MW, as well as 855 MW from the Visayas, and 232 MW from Mindanao.
Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the power situation is expected to be “better” this year than the experience in 2024.
“Of course, while it is election year, it is also not an El Niño year. In fact it is seen as a La Niña year, and therefore the constraints that we saw last year would not be as great as in 2025,” he said.
Our peak demand increased, because of the El Niño. It increased by 10 to 12 percent, which made us go through extended periods of yellow and red alerts,” he added.
Despite the better conditions for the energy sector this year, there are still “weak links” that can affect the country’s power supply, the energy chief emphasized.
“We must remember that we are only as strong as our weakest link, and our weak links are everywhere.,” Lotilla said, citing the country as an archipelago, with every major island such as the Visayas having a different energy situation from the rest of the country.
The forecast power demand in Luzon this year is 14,769 MW, up by 5.4 percent from the actual peak of 14,016 MW in 2024.
For the Visayas, the peak demand is likely to reach 3,111 MW, a 16 percent surge from 2024’s actual peak demand of 2,681 MW. For Mindanao, demand is likely to peak at 2,789 MW, or 8.2 percent higher than the actual peak demand of 2,577 MW last year.
The total grid-connected power capacity nationwide was 29,697 MW as of end-October 2024, according to data released by the Energy department. The bulk or 12,856 MW, equivalent to 43.3 percent came from coal-fired power plants.
