The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has forthrightly raised to transmission firm National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) the need to immediately address the “technical gaps” in balancing the country’s power system so it can efficiently integrate the variable renewable energy (VRE) technologies, primarily wind and solar farm installations.
ERC Chairperson Monalisa C. Dimalanta conveyed that in a recent meeting with the top NGCP officials, led by major shareholder and Vice Chairman Henry Sy Jr., “We discussed what gaps remain – and what are the measures needed for system balancing to address entry of variable REs.”
Dimalanta stated that further talks will be scheduled among NGCP, ERC and the Department of Energy (DOE) to address comprehensively concerns for the improvement of the country’s power transmission network.
Sy, for his part, noted that “following our technical team’s discussion on the Transmission Development Plan (TDP), our meeting with Chairperson Dimalanta will hopefully pave the way to ensure efficiency of our regulatory compliance processes and timelines.”
He primarily highlighted the ERC’s assurance that “all processes involving NGCP will be characterized by the ‘enabling environment’ and rule of law” – consistent with what was declared by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his recent State of the Nation Address.
As explained, grid balancing is a critical function that NGCP has to guarantee in the operation of the power system – because if the “on-and-off availability of generation” from solar and wind plants would trigger constant frequency excursions in system operations, then that could eventually lead to massive collapse of the grid.
Variable renewable energy technologies (VREs) are also called the intermittent RE resources. For instance, solar may not be available when the sun is not shining; while wind generation will not be there when this force of nature will not be blowing.
Dimalanta added that the crux of their “exchange of views” with NGCP centered on the TDP, being the investment guide of the concessionaire-firm in the expansion and buildup of the country’s power transmission facilities. The TDP also provides on how the implementation of projects could prudently support the “energy transition agenda” being pushed by the Marcos administration.
“One of the highlights during the presentation was NGCP’s roadmap to achieve the country’s generation targets, which is notably driven by renewable energy sources,” the regulatory body emphasized.
ERC stressed that these generation targets are aligned with the target of the Philippine Energy Plan (PEP), which seeks to increase renewable energy generation to 35-percent by 2030 and 50-percent by 2040. “Implementing the PEP will require updating transmission lines to efficiently transmit additional supply to distribution utilities,” the agency said.
The TDP, in particular, refers to the “strategic plan formulated to address the country’s transmission infrastructure needs, and outlines the necessary expansion and upgrade of the transmission system, in order to ensure the reliable and efficient delivery of electricity across the country,” according to the ERC.
Among the key transmission projects that have to be delivered immediately, the ERC cited, would be the 500-kilovolt (kV) Mariveles-Balsik San Jose transmission project, the 230kV Cebu-Negros-Panay backbone project; as well as the transmission facilities that will underpin the development of new power plants in Zamboanga as well as the CARAGA administrative region.
