ERC gives NGCP go-ahead to build La Trinidad line project
By Lenie Lectura – April 11, 2019
from Business Mirror
THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has approved the application of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) to proceed with its P644-million La Trinidad-Calot 69-kV line project.
“The NGCP’s new La Trinidad—Calot 69 kV Transmission Line will address the expected transmission overloading and will serve as a back up in times of contingency or a failure in the transmission system,” ERC Chairman and CEO Agnes VST Devanadera said.
The project involves the construction of a transmission line using new right-of-way and de-commissioning of some portions of the old circuit line.
The transmission line project also aims to provide a single outage contingency as required in the Philippine Grid Code (PGC) and improve the reliability and transfer capacity of the transmission line.
NGCP is also required to conduct competitive bidding for the purchase of major materials in the implementation of the proposed projects. The remaining old or existing line that will be dedicated to Benguet Electric Cooperative Inc.’s Sanitary Camp and Irisan should be reclassified as Subtransmission Asset and be divested to Beneco.
The NGCP, under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira), is required to seek the ERC’s prior approval of any plan for expansion or improvement of its facilities in the pursuit of its mandate to construct, install, finance, improve, expand, rehabilitate, and repair the country’s transmission system and the grid.
“The ERC approved this application of the NGCP for its La Trinidad-Calot 69 kV Transmission Line based on our evaluation that the benefits of the project outweigh its cost. Electricity consumers will be benefited with this NGCP project in terms of having sustainable electricity and continued economic growth, not only in the Province of Benguet, but in the entire Luzon region,” Devanadera said.
The regulator’s approval is subject to optimization based on its actual use and/or implementation during the reset process for the next regulatory period, as stated in the Rules for Setting the Transmission Wheeling Rates and other relevant issuances of the ERC.
