P698-M NGCP project nears completion
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines yesterday said it was nearing completion of the P698-million expansion project of its 138-kilovolt Ormoc-Babatngon line in Leyte, a major component of NGCP’s Leyte-Samar transmission corridor.
NGCP is installing a second circuit at Ormoc-Babatngon, which has been plagued by planned and unplanned outages that affect consumers in Samar as the island remained dependent on electricity supply from other islands.
The grid operator said construction of the second circuit involving 80 kilometers of cable would ensure the reliability of transmission services in the area and minimize the occurrences of prolonged power interruptions.
Also, the project involves the expansion of the Ormoc and Babatngon substations, both in Leyte.
NGCP said the Ormoc-Babatngon project was 94-percent complete and would be fully complete before the end of 2018.
“This line reinforcement strengthens transmission services in Eastern Visayas, particularly improving power supply delivery to Samar. It is NGCP’s continuing commitment to upgrade and improve the country’s transmission network, especially with the constantly growing demand for power,” NGCP said in a statement.
Earlier this week, NGCP said it has broken ground for a new 500-kilovolt substation in Tuy, Batangas, amid ongoing efforts to improve its network across the country.
NGCP said the Tuy substation would enable the connection and dispatch to the grid of new power plants in Batangas.
Slated for completion in the first quarter of 2020, the project also involves the installation of a 500-kv transmission line that would link Tuy and Dasmariñas in Cavite.
The power grid operator earlier said major projects were underway to support rising electricity demand in the country, which in Luzon alone recorded another historic annual high in May.
This year’s demand for the Luzon power grid peaked at 10,876 megawatts last May 28, beating the previous record peak demand of 10,688 MW observed in April 2017.
