NGCP provides update on P132.1-billion power interconnection projects
By Lenie Lectura -January 15, 2020
from Business Mirror
The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) is currently undertaking six interconnection projects worth P132.1 billion.
“Several interconnection projects are currently in the works,” said the grid operator on Tuesday.
These include the P47.8-billion Stages 2 and 3 of the Cebu-Negros-Panay interconnection project which will establish a 230-kV (kilovolt) backbone to accommodate the transmission of excess power from Panay and Negros toward the rest of the Visayas.
To address the growing demand in Boracay Island and provide additional capacity to support the ongoing developments, preconstruction activities are now underway for the P8.5-billion Nabas-Caticlan-Boracay transmission line project.
Also, the P2.4-billion Panay-Guimaras 138-kV transmission line is also in the preconstruction stage.
To maintain the continuous transmission of power toward the major load centers in Mandaue and Mactan during N-1 condition, the P1.9 billion Cebu-Lapu Lapu 230-kV transmission line project is currently being undertaken, with survey and right-of-way activities still ongoing.
Another major interconnection is the P19.8-billion Cebu-Bohol 230-kV interconnection project, which will address overloading issues and enable sharing of power between the two islands, especially with the growing demand in Bohol and will eventually form part of the Leyte-Bohol 230-kV loop system.
The most expensive interconnection project is the P51.7-billion Mindanao-Visayas interconnection project, which is slated for completion in December 2020.
These projects are meant to support the government’s vision to have a unified Philippine grid. “In pursuit of its goal of building One Grid Philippines, power transmission operator NGCP continues to embark on major interconnection projects to realize this vision,” it said.
So far, the NGCP has completed 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 this 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.
“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.
Other future interconnection projects of NGCP include the Batangas-Mindoro interconnection project; Laray-Cordova 230-kV transmission line project, Bataan-Cavite interconnection project; Bataan-Pasay interconnection project; and the Palawan-Mindoro interconnection project.
