NGCP, AP seek new contract

MANILA, Philippines—National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) and SN Aboitiz Power-Benguet Inc. (SNAP-Benguet) have asked regulators to approve their proposed Ancillary Services Procurement Agreement (ASPA).

In a joint application submitted to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), NGCP and SNAP-Benguet said there was a need for additional contracted ancillary services in the Luzon grid to ensure system reliability.

Ancillary services, which help grid operators manage fluctuations and respond to sudden loss of power supply, may be dispatched by NGCP to maintain balance in the country’s electric power systems.

Ancillary services also back up generating plants that fill in power supply gaps in order to normalize the system when disruptions happen.

NGCP, which operates the country’s transmission superhighway, said it had run a series of technical testing and evaluation on the Binga Hydro-Electric Power Plant operated by SNAP-Benguet.

The country’s transmission superhighway operator said it had concluded that the recently rehabilitated facility can provide ancillary services such as contingency reserve and dispatchable reserve.

The plant has a nominal capacity of 125 megawatts. However, in Sept. 2013, SNAP-Benguet successfully completed the rehabilitation of all four units of the Binga hydropower plant such that it increased the output capacity to 132 MW from 100 MW prior to the upgrade.

SNAP-Benguet earlier said it had received a certificate of compliance from the ERC for the four units of the hydropower plant at Barangay Tinongdan.

Covering four units of the Binga plant, the certificate is valid for five years.