Two crucial transmission projects of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) are embroiled in right-of-way and legal issues that may hinder their full completion, an executive said over the weekend.
These include the Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP) Stage 3 Backbone Project and the Hermosa-San Jose 500-kiloVolt (kV) transmission line which are eyed for completion by end-2023.
NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Perez-Alabanza said that in the case of the CNP project, six transmission towers were still under right-of-way negotiations.
“The problem with transmission line is all it takes is one tower. You can finish 299 out of 300 towers, but if you can’t finish one tower, it’s not going to get energized, and that’s the case with CNP3,” Alabanza said.
She said negotiations were ongoing with a single landowner that has six towers in his area.
“We have filed an expropriation case, and we’re also doing parallel negotiations. Neither has borne fruit…We are doing our best, but that is beyond our control. This is part of the last portion,” Alabanza said.
CNP Stage 3 involves the construction of 230 kV transmission line facilities from the Barotac Viejo Substation in Iloilo province to the Cebu Substation.
Meanwhile, Alabanza said the N-1 or redundancy for the Hermosa-San Jose transmission line has yet to be completed, although the line is already energized.
Spanning the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan, the project will strengthen transmission services and accommodate new bulk power generation from Bataan.
The Hermosa-San Jose 500kV project is a major component in the Luzon 500kV transmission backbone. The project enabled better voltage regulation and power transfer from existing 230kV facilities in the area.
“The purpose for that project has been fulfilled on May 2023. So why is it not yet 100-percent complete? That is because the redundancy portion, the N-1 part, that is the one which is not yet finished,” Alabanza said.
She said two string paths were the subject of a temporary restraining order. “We are doing our best to resolve that, but until that’s lifted we cannot finish it because all it takes is one span to not finish the line. So unless that is resolved, we won’t be able to string the remaining section,” she said.
NGCP called on all local government units to extend support to expedite its projects by promptly granting relevant permits and providing necessary assistance in addressing right-of-way concerns.
“We reiterate our call for what the President termed as a ‘cohesive, centralized, and systematic approach’ to planning, including that for energy for stability, resiliency and independence. We echo the President’s observation that while national goals are all within reach, ‘this will require not just the work of a single person or a single branch of government nor even the whole government acting alone, but the collective efforts achieved only by all Filipinos working together’,” NGCP said.