ILOILO CITY—Power situation in Panay Island, particularly in Iloilo City, is expected to significantly improve with the completion of the Cebu-Negros-Panay stage 3 project and the cooperation of power stakeholders.
The CNP stage 3 project will be formally switched on simultaneously in Bacolod City, Iloilo City and Cebu City on Monday.
Department of Energy Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said during the Philippine Electric Power Industry Forum of the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines that the CNP stage 3 project was completed three days ahead of schedule on March 27, 2024.
“The important thing about the completion of the CNP backbone at 230KV is that there are now two possible routes to go to islands. Before it was only one connection,” Guevara said.
She said the transmission line has a transfer capacity of 400 megawatts, while Panay’s power demand is around 350 MW to 400 MW.
The CNP Stage 3 project allows the transfer of about 180 MW to 200 MW to Panay. The project involved the construction of 230 kV transmission line facilities from the Barotac Viejo Substation in Iloilo province to the Cebu Substation.
The DOE earlier said the long-term solutions for the Panay grid such as the energization of several renewable and conventional power plants and the completion of transmission projects were in the pipeline.
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Trenas lauded power industry players in Panay for working together to make sure that the recent system-wide outage would not be repeated.
“I think the investigation has really shown some deficiencies in the transmission, in generation. I think all the parties are trying to make sure that things happen. Like the Cebu-Negros-Panay grid, they’ve already completed it, and it’s already being used by us,” Trenas said.
