NGCP seeks OK of P37 billion worth of transmission projects
By Danessa Rivera – February 16, 2021 – 12:00am
from The Philippine Star
MANILA, Philippines — The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) is seeking regulatory approval for transmission projects in Luzon and Mindanao worth over P37 billion.
The grid operator filed two petitions with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) last month for the immediate implementation of three projects in central and northern Luzon and two proposed facilities in the Zamboanga Peninsula in Mindanao.
The three projects in Luzon have a combined project cost of P18.92 billion, while the two projects in Mindanao are worth P16.94 billion in total.
NGCP’s Capas 230 kilovolt (kV) substation project has an estimated cost of P2.61 billion and is targeted to be completed in 32 months.
“The project aims to cater the load growth in Tarlac, particularly in the franchise areas of (Tarlac II Electric Cooperative Inc.) TARELCO II and the connection of New Clark City in Capas,” NGCP said.
The proposed Porac 230-kV substation project is estimated to cost P6.38 billion with an implementation period of 57 months. It aims to address the projected load growth of Pampanga and to cater to the load growth in the franchise areas of Pampanga II Electric Cooperative Inc. (PELCO II), Clark Electric Distribution Corp. (CEDC), Angeles Electric Corp. (AEC) and San Fernando Electric Light & Power Company (SFELAPCO).
The North Luzon substation upgrading project II, with a cost of P9.23 billion and a 24-month completion, will provide N-1 provision in various NGCP substations in North Luzon.
In Mindanao, NGCP proposed to construct the Lala – Naga-Mindanao – Zamboanga 230-kV transmission line project which is estimated to cost P15.06 billion.
The project is an extension of the Mindanao 230-kV transmission backbone and will solve the low voltage problem in the area due to generation deficiency in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
“At present, the Zamboanga Peninsula encounters low voltage brought about by lack of local generators in the area. Thus, load curtailment is implemented to stabilize voltage levels,” it said.
Meanwhile, the Zamboanga Peninsula voltage improvement project – which has a cost of P1.88 billion – will provide the needed reactive power to achieve a normal voltage level in the region, NGCP said.
Last year, NGCP appealed for government’s help to promote power development in the Zamboanga Peninsula to ensure power quality and reliability in the area.
From January to May 2020, NGCP said it recorded an increased number of undervoltage and voltage fluctuations from both the generation and distribution-side which adversely affected power stability in the area.
