An unsettling wave of power outages has swept across the globe, from Bali’s island-wide blackout that paralyzed the tourism-dependent economy, to Spain and Portugal’s outage that suspended critical operations and transport.
Closer to home, the Philippines has had its fair share of power interruptions, from a 20-hour blackout on Siquijor Island, outages across various provinces due to heavy storms, and, most recently, power disruptions in Leyte and Samar due to Typhoon Tino. These incidents have raised concerns about the resilience of energy systems in the Philippines, amidst the country’s push for more renewable energy in its energy mix. For Filipino businesses operating in one of Southeast Asia’s (SEA) fastest-growing digital economies, combined with a rapidly evolving energy landscape, these disruptions underscore the urgent need to strengthen energy resilience — the only way to secure competitive advantage and safeguard our enterprises.
Growing energy risks in the Philippines
Much like the rest of the ASEAN region, the Philippines faces a confluence of escalating risks that threaten to unravel business continuity. Record temperatures worldwide, as seen in Asia this May, are dramatically increasing the global use of air conditioning. This trend is further amplified by rising incomes, allowing more individuals to purchase and operate these units – leading researchers at the International Energy Agency (IEA) to predict that power demand from home cooling units will increase by 2.8 times by 2050.
In addition to the heat, there is also the advent of digitalisation. A recent report published by the IEA in April 2025 found that SEA’s electricity demand from data centres will more than double by 2030. With the Philippines emerging as a growing digital infrastructure market in SEA, driven by surging demand for cloud-based storage and processing capabilities, rising internet usage, accelerating enterprise digitalization, and strategic infrastructure investments, electricity demand for data infrastructure is also projected to grow rapidly. This surge in demand, coupled with the already rapid growth of data centre electricity consumption, will push power infrastructure to its limits, intensifying the country’s vulnerability to power disruptions.
Further, the country is more susceptible to risks such as power grid failure and grid overloads, due to its archipelagic geography and mountainous terrain, which make power transmission challenging. The risks are also exacerbated by an existing energy system that is heavily reliant on fossil fuels.
The cost of downtime to Filipino businesses
On top of broad regional challenges, Filipino businesses face severe financial losses during downtime — from crippled productivity and damaged infrastructure, to disrupted supply chains, and in some cases, compromised data. The impact is particularly acute for sectors like data centres and financial institutions, where even momentary power fluctuations can trigger massive data loss and operational downtime. For instance, the 2024 power outages in Panay Island and Negros not only affected residents and commercial establishments, but also led to a loss of PhP400 million to P500 million daily.
These events are a stark reminder that the evolving vulnerabilities faced by energy grids in the Philippines can introduce new risks for consumers and businesses. Establishing robust continuity plans becomes paramount, especially for entities that are heavily reliant on a consistent power supply. While providers like Negros Power are investing in grid and power system upgrades, and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines continues to improve upon its grid response capabilities, grid modernisation remains slow. It is thus imperative for enterprises to strategically invest in solutions that ensure continuity and protect operations when inevitable disruptions occur.
Safeguarding operations: The role of technology and people
Hence, technological safeguards for Filipino businesses are non-negotiable. A prominent example of such solutions is Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS), battery-backed power systems that provide immediate backup electricity when the main power fails. Unlike generators, which have a startup delay, a UPS is instantaneous and ensures continuous operation. These technologies are indispensable to operations in data centres, financial institutions or any business relying on digital operations, as they ensure operational continuity. The Department of Energy (DOE) has also recognized the importance of strengthening energy resilience, as it is working with provincial governments to streamline the implementation of energy infrastructure projects across the country to accelerate energy access while ensuring compliance and sustainability.
That said, a singular reliance on UPS is insufficient. Enterprises must adopt a multi-layered approach to resilience. Other power protection technologies, such as battery energy storage systems, could help provide extended backup power that’s independent of the main grid, while microgrids can facilitate continued operations during a power outage, especially crucial for remote or off-grid communities.
Investing in new and emerging battery technologies will also be crucial to enhancing grid resilience. For instance, unlike commonly used lithium-ion batteries, initial research has shown that nickel-zinc batteries are non-flammable, and have significant advantages in power density, operating temperature range, cycle life, and environmental friendliness.
Even with the best power systems, enterprises should also consider comprehensive strategies for off-site data backup and swift recovery protocols to safeguard against data loss, regardless of the cause. This includes prioritising training and collaboration among employees to ensure that they are familiar with such protocols, and are kept updated on the latest developments to help integrate new technologies into existing infrastructure smoothly. Beyond that, actively contributing to renewable energy projects and supporting the DOE’s goals of diversifying the country’s energy mix will also be key to building long-term power resilience and grid stability.
A crucial balancing act
Ultimately, the Philippines faces a complex challenge: meeting ever-increasing energy demands, driven partly by global warming and rapid urbanization, while simultaneously integrating more renewable energy sources. This requires significant investment in not just new generation capacity, but also modernising existing power infrastructure — building smart grids and developing sophisticated energy storage solutions that can withstand future outages. The goal is to create a resilient grid that can accommodate the intermittent nature of renewables without compromising reliability. This demands strategic foresight from public and private sectors alike, putting the onus on businesses to fortify their operations proactively.
The recent Siquijor Island blackout serves as a wake-up call. As the Philippines transitions to renewables while accelerating digitalisation, investing in power backup solutions isn’t just about avoiding downtime but maintaining a competitive advantage in an increasingly unstable energy landscape.
Tony Lin is Country Manager, Philippines and Taiwan at Eaton.
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