Panay eyed as NGCP expands Project Airbag batteries

MANILA — A site in Nabas, Aklan, is among the locations the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is assessing under Project Airbag. The battery storage initiative aims to cushion the grid against tight supply and the possible 2027 El Niño.

The Panay site is one of 12 under assessment for 1,000 megawatts (MW) of additional capacity, along with Cadiz in Negros Occidental and Victoria in Northern Samar. This is on top of 850 MW already in progress at six other sites.

NGCP said the transmission-side initiative is meant to give the power grid additional flexibility. It also aims to prepare the country for possible generation constraints associated with the 2027 El Niño.

Project Airbag will deploy battery energy storage systems (BESS) that store available electricity and release it when the grid is under greater pressure. This gives NGCP an additional fast-response tool during short-duration shortages and system disturbances.

NGCP Vice Chairman Henry Sy Jr. presented the program at an Oct. 29 briefing. The six ongoing sites are in Laoag, Ilocos Norte; Gamu and Santiago, Isabela; Calatrava, Negros Occidental; Dumanjug, Cebu; and Ubay, Bohol.

The initiative comes as the Visayas continues to experience tight supply conditions aggravated by simultaneous generator outages.

NGCP placed the Visayas grid under red and yellow alerts as recently as Oct. 28 because power plants were unavailable.

In a Sept. 26 yellow alert, NGCP cited the unavailability of large coal plants TVI 1, PEDC 3, and KSPC 2. PEDC is Panay Energy Development Corp., whose plant is in Iloilo City.

A yellow alert means the grid’s operating margin cannot cover its contingency requirement. A red alert means supply cannot meet both consumer demand and the grid’s regulating requirements.

In August, the Department of Energy (DOE) ordered NGCP to connect more than 250 MW of battery storage in Iloilo, Negros, Cebu, and Leyte. Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said that once these projects are completed, yellow and red alerts in the Visayas would drop by at least 50%.

NGCP said new generation capacity remains the fundamental long-term requirement. However, battery storage can be deployed more quickly and can help reduce immediate system vulnerability while additional power plants and other infrastructure are being developed.

“Project Airbag is not being presented as the overall solution to generation adequacy,” NGCP said. “Batteries do not create electricity and cannot substitute for sufficient dependable generation over prolonged periods. They can, however, provide the grid with greater flexibility while the country develops the additional generation capacity it needs.”

NGCP said the planned battery rollout is not limited to the Visayas.

The company is also looking at the wider Philippine grid as the power sector prepares for the possible effects of El Niño in 2027. Its main concern is reduced hydroelectric output in areas that depend on rainfall and reservoir levels.

In a Sept. 23 climate advisory, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said a strong El Niño was active in the tropical Pacific. It expected the event to intensify into a very strong El Niño between September and December 2026 and to persist through the first half of 2027.

Battery systems can capture electricity available during periods of higher supply, including daytime solar production. They can then release it during evening peaks, periods of reduced hydro output, or other tight system conditions.

NGCP said early deployment of storage is meant to strengthen the grid before supply conditions deteriorate, rather than respond only after shortages occur.

Long-term grid capability

NGCP stressed that the value of battery storage extends beyond the current Visayas situation or a single El Niño cycle.

As electricity demand increases and the country’s generation mix becomes more diverse and variable, the transmission system will need greater flexibility. That flexibility is required to balance supply and demand and to accommodate changing patterns of generation.

Strategically located battery storage can provide fast-response support during disturbances. It can also improve the use of existing transmission infrastructure and help shift available energy from periods of high production to periods of greater demand.

Battery storage can therefore form part of the country’s longer-term transmission infrastructure and grid resilience strategy, subject to the appropriate regulatory processes.

Project Airbag is also intended to support a transmission system that can accommodate energy from a wider range of sources, regardless of scale, location, or configuration.

These sources can include large-scale generating facilities, embedded generation, distributed energy resources, net-metered facilities, rooftop solar, and other emerging sources.

NGCP said the objective is not to concentrate participation in the energy sector. Instead, it wants to widen the pool of available energy by letting more participants and more sources contribute where technically and commercially feasible.

As technology develops and the grid becomes more flexible, more groups can become part of the country’s broader energy supply system. These include households, businesses, distribution utilities, communities, agricultural users, and other qualified participants.

NGCP said Project Airbag can provide the storage and system flexibility needed to integrate these increasingly diverse and dispersed sources more effectively and reliably.

Over the longer term, greater use of domestic and renewable energy resources can also help reduce the country’s exposure to volatile imported fuel prices and strengthen national energy security.

NGCP reiterated that battery storage is meant to support, not replace, the development of additional dependable generation needed to meet the country’s growing electricity requirements.