The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), operator of the country’s electricity superhighway, has invested an additional P509 million in Leyte transmission facilities to further improve the reliability of the Visayas grid.
In a statement, the NGCP said that the Ormoc-Maasin 138-kilovolt (kV) transmission line project would reinforce the existing 138-kV line running from Ormoc, Leyte, to Maasin in Southern Leyte, by stringing another circuit into the facility, spanning 113.97 kilometers.
The additional circuit will allow NGCP to comply with the so-called N-1 contingency, a mechanism designed to help the grid continue operations even with the loss of a major system component.
Without this additional circuit, Southern Leyte and Bohol will remain highly vulnerable, as it may be cut off from the grid every time the Ormoc-Maasin line experiences a power outage.
“Improvement of the Visayas grid is critical to the continuity of our power service delivery. For us to be able to fully dispatch the available supply and meet the growing demands of the Visayas, we need to invest in strengthening our line…. Reinforcing our Ormoc-Maasin 138-kV line is one step toward that,” said NGCP spokesperson Cynthia P. Alabanza.
Part of the project is the upgrade of the power circuit breakers in the Ormoc and Maasin substations. The Ormoc substation receives the power produced by the Leyte geothermal fields, which is the dominant source of electricity for Samar and Bohol.
The Ormoc-Maasin 138-kV transmission line project is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year.
NGCP currently operates, maintains and develops the country’s power grid. It transmits high-voltage electricity through “power superhighways.” Amy R. Remo