NGCP upgrades key transmission facility

National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is finally pushing ahead with the upgrade of its San Jose-Quezon line as its right-of-way problem had been solved and the vicinity of seven transmission towers had been cleared of informal settlers.

NGCP said in a statement it was adding a third 230-kilovolt line along these towers located in Barangay Baesa and Sangandaan in Quezon City.

NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Perez-Alabanza said in an interview this was timely as the Luzon grid reached a new record peak of 10,750 megawatts in demand yesterday.

Alabanza said this year’s peak demand so far was about 700 MW more than the previous yearly peak demand of 10,688 MW recorded in April 2017.

The project also involves the expansion of related transmission substations to keep up with the additional power traffic.

“Thanks to our good relations with the government of Quezon City, we were able to rehabilitate and upgrade our transmission line in the city that were previously inaccessible to our transmission line team,” NGCP said in a statement.

“Our efforts are now focused on expediting the projects’ completion and seeing a more reliable transmission of power in the country’s biggest load center,” the company said.

According to NGCP, the project was crucial in that it would widen the power corridor into Metro Manila, relieve the existing two 230-kV lines, prevent overloading and ensure that the grid could withstand service interruption.