NGCP’s P52-B project OKd

National Grid Corp. of the Philippines has secured regulators’ provisional approval for its P51.7-billion Visayas-Mindanao interconnection project.

The Energy Regulatory Commission on Tuesday said it had a relevant order dated July 11, 2017.

The project involves the linkup of the grids in the Visayas and Mindanao through facilities—converter stations in Cebu and Zamboanga.

“The provisional approval granted to NGCP to implement the project will enable power supply importation among the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao grids,” ERC officer in charge Alfredo J. Non said in a statement.

“For instance, the deficiency of supply in Visayas may be supplied by importing power from Luzon or Mindanao,” Non said. “Hence, this [interconnection] will help address the insufficient power supply and optimize the available power supply in the Philippine grid.”

The commissioner said the project supported the government’s vision of interconnecting major power grids into a single national grid, which was expected to help improve the overall power supply security in the country as sharing of reserves would become possible.

Non said the project was also intended to reinforce the operation of the electricity market by maximizing the use of available energy resources and additional generation capacities in Visayas and Mindanao, including the renewable energy resources.

In its order, the ERC clarified that the provisional approval was anchored on conditions.

First, the proposed project should be subject to “optimization based on its actual use and/or implementation during the reset process for the next regulatory period.”

Second, NGCP should conduct competitive bidding for the purchase of major materials in the implementation of the project.

Third, that NGCP should pay a permit fee.