Cebu aims for higher energy self-sufficiency to power its growth and development
The Province of Cebu, Central Visayas’ vibrant, thriving, and booming key economic catalyst, is in need of a steady and reliable supply of energy.
The island has been a linchpin of the region’s impressive economic performance. Cebu helped propel Central Visayas to achieve the fastest economic growth rate of 7.3 percent in 2024, which surpassed the national average of 5.7 percent.
Its outstanding accomplishment is anchored on an economy that is robust, agile, and resilient. The province is a hub for energy-intensive industries, like manufacturing, hospitality, information technology, and business process management (BPM). But this has also meant a significant rise in energy demand.
Cebu and the Visayas will continue to rise if the growth trajectory remains headed in the right direction and if even more ambitious future goals are achieved. Sustaining the economic momentum means meeting energy demand with sufficient supply.
The power situation in Cebu
For context, Cebu’s year-on-year power system peak demand grew by 11.8 percent last year while Visayas’ rose by 9.1 percent. Power demand in Visayas is forecast by the grid operator to expand at an annual compound rate of 5.59 percent for 2024-2050—the highest compared to the Luzon and Mindanao grids.
For 2025 alone, the peak demand forecast projects a rise of 16 percent to 3,111 megawatts (MW) in the Visayas, according to the Department of Energy (DoE), with Cebu’s own demand accounting for more than 40 percent of the total.
At present, however, Visayas is still heavily reliant on power imports from the other main island groups due to insufficient local power generation. This puts the island group’s energy and economic security at risk.
In particular, Cebu’s energy security is critical to the Visayan islands because Metro Cebu is considered the major load center of the Visayas grid.
For Cebu to sustain its economic expansion, which will also mean continued growth and prosperity for the rest of the Visayas, the province has to diversify and be open to both traditional and non-traditional power sources to meet its own growing energy needs.
Cebu should adopt a more diverse portfolio of power generation capacities and systems that are embedded in the island to reduce its dependence on power imports, strengthen its energy security, and boost its—and the rest of the Visayas’ – economic potential.
The Visayas grid is already beginning to show signs of strain due to increasing demand. Four yellow alerts have already been issued on the Visayas grid in 2025, one as recent as August 6 when peak demand of 2,369 MW narrowed closer to the available capacity of 2,538 MW.
On the other hand, the Luzon and Mindanao grids have received only one yellow alert each so far this year. Moreover, last May 2024, Cebu already experienced these thin margins when a peak demand of 1,220 MW was met with a total plant capacity of only 1,123 MW.
With power sources already almost breaching their maximum capacities, Cebu’s power situation will likely continue to be threatened because of the tight embedded supply and the expected rise in demand as the region continues to grow and develop.
At the moment, Cebu can rely on supplemental energy from other parts of the country. Luzon is able to supply up to 400 MW, and Mindanao contributes around 450 MW. The completion of the Cebu–Negros–Panay 230 kV (kilovolt) Backbone Project now allows excess power from Mindanao, Negros and Panay Island to be used to meet the high demand in Cebu.
So far, the supplementary energy is enough to cover temporary deficiencies.
Cebu’s potential
But as demand continues to rise, Cebu will need to be more self-reliant and self-sufficient. A steady and reliable electric power supply is particularly critical to Cebu considering that energy-intensive industries are major drivers of the province’s impressive growth.
The province’s top industries include:
Manufacturing and logistics (electronics, furniture, shipbuilding, food processing, cold storage);
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles;
Professional and business services (Cebu is the Philippines’ second-largest hub for information technology-business process management, or IT-BPM, and creative industries); and Real estate and ownership of dwellings.
Cebu is also among the Philippines’ top tourist destinations. It has one of the country’s largest and busiest airports, with large numbers of top foreign tourist arrivals. In fact, the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry indicated that the province welcomed over five million visitors in 2024, with an average stay of 11 nights.
With Luzon and Mindanao also growing their respective economies, their own energy requirements will also rise. Cebu cannot always be dependent on them to fill its energy shortfalls.
Visayas needs to de-risk by developing its own local power sources to prevent any serious supply gaps and sustain and safeguard its economic growth drivers.
As of April 2025, the Visayas has committed power projects totaling 2,101.68 MW, of which 1,862.98 MW are renewable energy. Committed power projects are those that already have the necessary approvals, financing, and firm schedules for completion. Then there is also 24,870.39 MW of indicative power projects — these are proposed projects that are still in the planning stage and have yet to secure all requirements to proceed.
While the Philippines is steadily diversifying its energy sources and increasing its renewable energy portfolio, coal power plants remain important to the grid for the generation of consistent power to meet daily demand. Intermittent sources like solar and wind are unable to do what coal-powered systems are capable of.
The DoE previously clarified that power producers can still opt to build brownfield coal-fired power plants to serve as baseload. These will be exempt from the country’s coal moratorium. Citing the list of private sector-initiated projects and inputs from generation companies and the grid operator, there are 51 potential coal plant projects that have a cumulative capacity of 20,300 MW.
Cebu has to take the necessary steps to fully respond to current demands and meet anticipated future requirements if it is to sustain its role in the Visayan economy and positively contribute to national GDP. With the help of reliable partners from the energy industry, Cebu can achieve its goal of energy self-sufficiency, as well as energy security and sustainability, to fuel its relentless efforts to grow and develop.
