NGCP completes repair of damaged submarine cable in Visayas
By Myrna M. Velasco – October 7, 2022, 3:29 PM
from Manila Bulletin
Transmission firm National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has completed and subsequently energized the 138-kilovolt Amlan-Samboan transmission line 1 facility, which is underpinning the wheeling of capacity between islands in the Visayas grid.
Following the completion of the facility’s restoration, the system operator noted that the transfer of capacity from Negros island to the province of Cebu had already been reinforced.
The submarine cable was reported to have incurred damage around June last year because of a dredging and re-channeling works undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Due to the technical glitch incurred by that transmission line then, NGCP indicated that the capacity of its underwater cable “to transmit power between Negros and Cebu was halved — from 180 megawatts to only 90MW,” hence, limiting the flow of electricity between islands.
NGCP explained that “the Amlan-Samboan 138kV transmission is vital to the exchange of power within the Visayas capacity of islands within the region.”
The company added that the transmission line’s energization “will ensure the full dispatch of Visayas grid-connected power plants, including renewable energy sources in Negros.”
Negros island, in particular, is regarded as the hub of RE investments primarily for solar farm installations; and their full dispatch to the grid had been a long-term struggle that they have been lobbying to the government to be given immediate solution so their capacities could help solve the country’s predicament of recurring electricity supply tightness.
Apart from the interconnection of the islands in Negros to Cebu, the Visayas grid also has its link-up with the Luzon grid; thus, any surplus capacity in the southern grid could be shared to consumers in the main power grid of Luzon.
Further sharing of power capacities may also happen when NGCP can finally bring to commercial operation its P52 billion Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP), which will serve as a realization of the country’s long-time dream to finally connect the three main power grids of the country.
Once that is concretized, the surplus capacity in Mindanao can also be shared with Luzon grid, hence, that will ease the headache of policymakers and energy officials when it comes to pushing for short-term solutions to the power supply woes of the country’s economic center in Metro Manila and the entirety of the Luzon power system.
