OVER P300B POYRED IN BY NGCP FOR ELECTRIC GRID IMPROVEMENT

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the country’s sole power grid operator, said it has so far invested P300 billion into what the aging transmission system in 2009. A total of 3,729 circuit kilometers of transmission lines, 28 new substations, and an additional 31,190MVA of
transformer capacity has been installed in the past 14 years, said Melma Batario, Government Relations and Regional Affairs Lead Specialist of the NGCP.

The power grip operator has significantly expanded the country’s transmission network as it roster of completed projects reflect the company’s dedication to its mandate of improving and expanding the grid, she said, citing from 2009 to 2022, NGCP completed 56 projects like the Mariveles Hermosa 500kV Transmission Line, expanding the transmission capacity in the area to accommodate more than 2,500MW of generation from the Bataan Peninsula; the Luzon Voltage Improvement Projects Stages 1, 3, and 4, which provided additional MegaVolt Ampere (MVA)
capacity to boost voltage; the San Jose-Quezon 230kV Transmission line 3 project, widening the power corridor serving Metro Manila; and the Pagbilao 500kV Extra High Voltage Substation, which accommodated the connection of around 1,420MW from power plants in Quezon province.

For Visayas, NGCP accordingly energized its CebuNegros-Panay 230kV Backbone Stage 1, interconnecting Cebu, Negros, and Panay for faster and more efficient power sharing; the Ormoc-Babatngon 138kV Transmission Line, reinforcing power transmission delivery in the Leyte and Samar provinces; the Calong CalongToledo-Colon-Cebu 138kV Transmission Line, constructed to create an N-1 system between Negros and Panay grids; and the Bohol 138kV Backbone Line, which solved the overloading condition and provided a more stable and reliable transmission network in
Bohol.

While in Mindanao, NGCP completed the MaramagBunawan 230kV Transmission Line, the first 230kV transmission line in the region; the Villanueva-Maramag 230kV Transmission Line, linking
northern and southern Mindanao; the Aurora-Polanco 138kV Transmission Line, which mitigated voltage fluctuations in Zamboanga del Norte all the way to Misamis Occidental. Only on April 30, 2023, NGCP successfully energized the P52-Billion MindanaoVisayas Interconnection project
(MVIP), a landmark undertaking connecting the power grids of Visayas and Mindanao, Batario
claimed, explaining that the MVIP “will provide a more reliable and sustainable transmission service as well as promote energy resource sharing.”

NGCP also detailed its Transmission Development Plan (TDP) with its priority projects to improve
transmission backbones and alternative transmission corridors, and to develop resiliency policies for power transmission facilities. It is set to complete more projects in 2023, particularly critical projects such as the Hermosa-San Jose 500kV Transmission Line Project, Cebu-Negros-Panay Stage 3 Backbone Project, NabasCaticlan-Boracay Transmission Line Project, Cebu-Bohol Interconnection Project, and commence new projects approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission such as the Batangas-Mindoro Interconnection Project, Batario said.

“NGCP’s P300 Billion grid expansion, reinforcement, and upgrading initiatives from 2009 to present, as well as those in the pipeline, are meticulously planned by our engineers and updated year after year with careful consideration for the needs of every single area in the country,” Batario further noted. “We continue to be hopeful that improvements in all 3 sectors of the power delivery system are in sync with each other, so that one sector is not made to be the sole or principal solution to challenges in the other sectors.”

Artemio A. Dumlao/ABN

Amianan Balita Ngayon