San Jose-Quezon transmission line upgrade completed
By Myrna M. Velasco – December 8, 2020, 7:00 AM
from Manila Bulletin
Private transmission firm National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has successfully completed the reinforcement of the 230-kilovolt San Jose-Quezon transmission line in the Luzon grid to prepare the system for targeted capacity additions.
The company indicated that the newly energized facility, which commanded an investment of P1.644 billion, was part of the projects approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for implementation.
Based on the facility’s blueprint, the transmission line stretches 19 kilometers and straddles the cities of Quezon, Caloocan, Valenzuela and San Jose del Monte in Bulacan province.
The transmission firm said it was able to energize the line “despite the setbacks encountered due to the Covid-19 outbreak.”
The facility upgrade, as noted, had widened the power transmission corridor, “allowing any and all available and incoming supply from power plants to transmit to the country’s load center.”
NGCP also noted that the reinforced facility “will relieve and prevent the overloading of transmission lines currently serving Metro Manila,” and will likewise improve the N-1 contingency of the line.
Setting in N-1 capability in power transmission entails that the system would be able to withstand unexpected power failure or outage, without necessarily committing the entire system to widespread electricity interruptions.
The company said its continuous effort in upgrading its transmission facilities is in keeping with the overall goal of “ensuring reliable power transmission services at all times.”
NGCP emphasized that reliability reinforcements in the power system is especially critical “at the height of a global health threat where hospitals and other critical facilities require uninterrupted delivery of power.”
The company indicated that it will continue to implement programmed projects; with some facilities to be pushed on expedited timelines “once the situation is deemed safe for normal operations.”
With anticipated economic recovery post-Covid, it is projected that NGCP will be lining up heaps of projects in the near term to increase the wheeling capacity of transmission facilities as electricity demand will also pick up in the coming years.
And with the massive scale developments of renewable energy (RE) capacities, the integration of these installations also needs to be calibrated in the power system.
