Grid operator National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said it is spending P132 billion to build new power transmission projects.
“The only way to forward this vision of a fully interconnected and integrated transmission system is to keep investing in the transmission grid. These projects will greatly benefit the country, energizing the entire archipelago even up to the farthest islands. This will also prepare the entire Philippine grid for the integration to the proposed ASEAN Power Grid, promoting power-sharing and optimization of generation capacity within the region,” NGCP said in a statement.
NGCP said several interconnection projects were in the works such as the P47.8-billion Stages 2 and 3 of the Cebu-Negros-Panay Interconnection Project which would establish a 230kV backbone to accommodate the transmission of excess power from Panay and Negros towards the rest of the Visayas.
It said that to address the growing demand in Boracay Island and provide additional capacity to support the ongoing developments, the pre-construction activities were underway for the P8.5-billion Nabas-Caticlan-Boracay transmission line project.
It said the P2.4 billion Panay-Guimaras 138kV transmission line was also in the pre-construction stage.
NGCP said the P1.9-billion Cebu-Lapu Lapu 230kV transmission line project was being undertaken, with survey and right-of-way activities ongoing to maintain the continuous transmission of power towards the major load centers in Mandaue and Mactan during N-1 condition.
Another major interconnection is the P19.8-billion Cebu-Bohol 230kV Interconnection Project which upon completion, will address overloading issues and enable sharing of power between the two islands, especially the growing demand in Bohol and will eventually form part of the Leyte-Bohol 230kV loop system.
Construction is also ongoing for the P51.7-billion Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project, slated for completion in December 2020 aimed at supporting the government’s vision to have a unified Philippine grid,
“With over 7,600 islands in the Philippine archipelago, energizing and connecting major islands to the grid was a challenge that confronted NGCP when it took over from government,” the company said.
NGCP said it was well on its way towards connecting the island grids as it is equipped with vision of a fully interconnected and integrated power grid, and access to state-of-the-art technology.
Among the first interconnection projects completed by NGCP is the P6.1-billion Cebu-Negros-Panay Stage 1 submarine cable component which increases the transfer capacity of the existing corridor.
A second phase of the project is an additional submarine cable for N-1 contingency which will enable the transmission grid to withstand a major system disturbance with minimal disruption to the system between Negros and Panay islands.
Other future interconnection projects of NGCP include the Batangas-Mindoro Interconnection Project, Laray-Cordova 230kV Transmission Line project, Bataan-Cavite Interconnection Project, Bataan-Pasay Interconnection Project and the Palawan-Mindoro Interconnection Project
NGCP is a Filipino-led, privately-owned company in charge of operating, maintaining and developing the country’s power grid, It is led by majority shareholders Henry Sy Jr. and Robert Coyiuto Jr.
