LNG-to-power plant eyed to ease Iloilo City brownouts

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

ILOILO CITY — A liquefied natural gas (LNG)-to-power project is being eyed in Iloilo City as a new source of electricity, Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu said, as rotational brownouts caused by tight power supply in the Visayas grid continue.

Treñas-Chu said Friday, Sept. 4, that the city is expecting the entry of LNGPH.

She did not disclose further details regarding the plan.

“We are expecting the entry here in Iloilo City of LNGPH, an integrated liquefied natural gas terminal and power facility,” she said.

She said the project is being considered because the power shortage has become a concern not only for Iloilo City but for the entire Visayas.

“This is important because we see that the problem in the power supply is not just a problem of Iloilo City. This is a bigger concern that affects the entire Visayas region,” she added.

The Department of Energy has previously identified Iloilo, along with Cebu, as among the potential locations in the Visayas for LNG terminal and gas-to-power development, citing the need to study natural gas markets and identify anchor demand for such projects.

Areas across the Visayas have experienced recurring rotational brownouts since August because of forced and unplanned outages of several power plants.

LNGPH currently operates an integrated LNG facility in Batangas that combines LNG infrastructure with large-scale gas-fired power generation.

The facility receives imported LNG, regasifies it, and supplies natural gas to power-generation facilities.

Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGEN), which holds a 40.2 percent stake in LNGPH, describes the Batangas facility as an integrated LNG facility supporting power plants with a combined capacity of about 2,475 megawatts (MW).

LNGPH is a joint investment of MGEN, Aboitiz Power Corp. subsidiary Therma NatGas Power Inc., and San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp., which completed the financial close of the USD 3.3 billion partnership in January 2025.

The Batangas complex, the country’s first integrated LNG import terminal and gas-to-power facility, supplies the Luzon grid.

MGEN also owns Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC) in Iloilo, one of the coal-fired plants whose unavailability the grid operator cited on Friday.

Still on thin power supply

On Friday, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) once again placed the Visayas grid under red alert from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., with yellow alerts from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The grid had an available capacity of only 2,233 MW against a projected peak demand of 2,504 MW.

NGCP said 815.8 MW was unavailable because of forced outages and derated generating units.

Among the factors cited by NGCP were the unavailability of the large coal-fired plants Therma Visayas Inc. Units 1 and 2 and PEDC Unit 3, as well as limited or unavailable power imports from Mindanao.

NGCP said manual load dropping, or rotational brownouts, would affect areas served by distribution utilities in Iloilo City, Iloilo province, Capiz, Aklan, Antique, and Guimaras as the transmission system seeks to maintain grid stability.

Treñas-Chu acknowledged that there is no immediate solution to the power supply problem, but said the city government is actively working with stakeholders in the power sector to address the situation.

“There is no instant or overnight solution to this problem. But we are not taking this sitting down. We are actively looking for additional solutions and working with stakeholders in the power sector,” she said.

“We will continue to communicate and coordinate with them so we can better understand the situation and take concrete steps to protect the interests of the city and the welfare of every Ilonggo,” the city mayor added.