Cebu coal site cleared for grid batteries as Philippine storage push accelerates

Aboitiz Power broke ground on a 60 MW battery on the footprint of a demolished coal and diesel plant in southern Cebu.

Aboitiz Power Corporation broke ground on July 1 on a 60-megawatt standalone battery energy storage system in the City of Naga in southern Cebu, Philippines. The facility sits inside the Naga Power Plant Complex, a site developed in the 1980s where the old coal and diesel units have now been decommissioned and demolished. The battery carries an initial 120 megawatt-hours of energy capacity and is designed to run independently rather than paired with a single plant. The company expects commercial operation by October 2027.

Naga is one piece of a larger buildout. Aboitiz says it manages a pipeline of more than 10 battery installations nationwide, with at least six under construction or in advanced development, including systems at the Maco, Magat, Ambuklao, Binga, and Nasipit sites. It is also completing a 30-megawatt hybrid battery in the Mactan Economic Zone, now mechanically complete and awaiting regulatory clearance. Separately, Meralco PowerGen energized the first phase of a 25-megawatt battery in western Cebu using CATL cells.

Replacing thermal generation with storage on the same land matters for regions where the grid is thin. Batteries firm up variable supply, smooth peaks, and cut reliance on expensive fuel-burning units, which tends to lower the cost and improve the reliability of electricity. The Department of Energy has mandated at least 170 megawatts of storage across Cebu, Negros, and Panay.

Watch the regulator: the Energy Regulatory Commission is reviewing 17 storage applications for the Visayas and Mindanao. The Naga commercial date is a company expectation, and the Mactan and Toledo projects still await clearance or remain in early phases.

Source: CleanTechnica