National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, operator of the country’s electricity superhighway, is acquiring P620 million worth of transmission assets owned by Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC), a power generation company under tycoon George Ty’s Metrobank group.
In a filing with the Energy Regulatory Commission, NGCP explained that this move was meant to maximize the use of these assets and at the same time, ensure a level playing field among power-generation companies.
“The transmission facility must not be used by a generation company for a potential unfair market advantage over its competitors. In the case of a generation company that serves other grid users through its facilities, this advantage over other generation companies cannot be overemphasized,” NGCP explained.
NGCP also pointed out that for a generation company to own the facility, it must not only have the financial capacity but also the technical expertise to maintain and operate the facility. In the case of PEDC, the Metrobank group owns the 164-megawatt coal-fired facility in Iloilo City.
“In the absence of such expertise, the reliability security of the grid may be put at risk. To prevent this from happening, it is to the best interest of all power stakeholders that ownership thereof be transferred to NGCP, which has the capability to maintain the high voltage transmission assets,” the transmission operator further said.
The PEDC assets to be acquired include the PEDC switchyard composed of nine 138-kilovolt power circuit breakers and accessories; 50 megavolt ampere transformer, including 69-kV breaker plus associated secondary equipment; 100 MVA transformer including a 69-kV breaker plus its associated secondary equipment; four 138-kV power circuit breakers and accessories; the PEDC-Sta. Barbara 138-kV; and Scada and microwave system and installation materials.
“Considering that the PEDC assets play a very vital role in the configuration of the Visayas grid, its reliability and security must always be ensured,” the NGCP stressed.