VisMin emerges as hotspots for BESS amid grid pressures

The Visayas and Mindanao are emerging as key destinations for battery energy storage system (BESS) investments as recurring grid pressures and transmission bottlenecks drive efforts to strengthen power reliability in some of the Philippines’ fastest-growing economic regions.

- Ehda M Dagooc

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said it has received 17 applications for battery energy storage system projects across the Visayas and Mindanao, reflecting rising investor interest in technologies designed to stabilize electricity supply and support the region’s expanding renewable energy sector.

“Today’s challenge is no longer simply supply adequacy, but system flexibility.” ERC Executive Director Nancy Aurora Q. Fajardo said during Schneider Electric Philippines’ Innovation Day 2026 forum in Cebu on Wednesday, June 24, 2026.

Recent yellow and red alerts in the Visayas have highlighted vulnerabilities in the power system despite generally adequate generation capacity, exposing the growing need for reserve capacity, ancillary services, transmission upgrades and energy storage facilities, she said.

The shift comes as industrial activity accelerates across the two regions, with new factories, data centers, logistics hubs, cold-storage facilities and digital infrastructure increasing demand for stable electricity supplies.