NGCP frees up ‘stranded capacity’ with newly-energized transmission project

System operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) was able to free up stranded capacity in the northern corridor of the Luzon grid, following the energization of its 500-kilovolt (kV) Hermosa-San Jose transmission line project in Bataan.

That project, which commanded investment of P10.2 billion, has been one of the ‘energy projects of national significance’ that has been awaited by the Department of Energy (DOE) for completion as early as March this year.

As the transmission line has already been energized since 7:22am on May 27 (Saturday), the wheeling of generated capacity of the Limay thermal power plant in Bataan would help ease tight supply predicament in the country’s major power grid of Luzon.

According to the transmission firm, the project’s completion warrants that there will no longer be ‘stranded capacity’ from that segment of the power system – primarily the component of the electric transmission highway traversing the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan.

As noted by NGCP, “the project will strengthen transmission services and accommodate new bulk power generation from the Bataan area,” adding that “the Hermosa-San Jose 500kV project is a major component in our planned Luzon 500kV transmission backbone.”

The transmission company indicated that there had been challenges on bringing the new power line into commercial stream, but it claimed that its project team “worked 24/7 to complete this facility.”

It thus emphasized that “with the energization of the line comes the improved transmission from generation sources towards the load center Metro Manila and nearby provinces.”

On cost recovery tied to the project, NGCP major shareholder Henry Sy Jr. conveyed that the provisionally approved amount for pass-on by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) had just been at P19 million or less than 1.0-percent of the actual project cost.

“Given the urgent need to widen the transmission highway along the Bataan corridor, NGCP implemented the Hermosa-San Jose line, setting aside for later, the issue on recovery approvals from the ERC,” he stressed.

Sy added “our priority has and will always be doing, what is best for the public,” emphasizing that “financial considerations can take a back seat and be threshed out later.”

He further stated that the company is trying to “correct the impression that the consumers are somehow shortchanged with how rates are computed,” as he similarly asserted that “our commitment has never wavered: we serve the public, and we work within the legal and regulatory framework of our concession and franchise.”

The transmission firm-concessionaire has been under close scrutiny by Philippine legislators and policymakers on several projects that had been snagged; and the DOE, in particular, has been prodding faster installations of warranted transmission line facilities so it can keep pace with the ‘energy transition agenda’ being advanced by the Marcos administration.

If grid integration of the planned massive rollout of renewable energy (RE) projects will not be successfully accomplished, the expected flow of whopping investment-dollars would also  crumble.