MANILA -Stranded power in Bataan province has been freed up following the activation of the long-delayed Hermosa-San Jose 500-kiloVolt (kV) transmission project, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) confirmed on Monday.
After facing much scrutiny from lawmakers over the late completion of its projects, NGCP on Sunday announced that it had finally energized the P10.2-billion project that is expected to strengthen transmission services and accommodate new bulk power generation from Bataan.
“Despite many challenges, our teams worked 24/7 to complete this facility. With the energization of the line comes the improved transmission from generation sources toward the load center Metro Manila and nearby provinces,” NGCP said.
Last year, the Department of Energy (DOE) warned of thinning supply for 2023, noting that there were “constraints” in delivering power as some power supply remained stranded in the province.
Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla previously said that there were around 474 megawatts of stranded capacity in Bataan power plants that could not reach Metro Manila due to the delayed completion of transmission projects.
Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla
But with the Hermosa-San Jose project coming online, NGCP spokesperson and assistant vice president Cynthia Alabanza told reporters that there was no more stranded supply in Bataan.
NGCP activates Hermosa-San Jose line to improve Luzon power transmission
Aside from the transmission line that stretches from Bulacan province to Bataan, the project also includes the construction of a new Hermosa 500-kV substation.
According to NGCP, this will enable better voltage regulation and power transfer from existing 230 kV facilities in the area.
The Hermosa-San Jose project is among the delayed transmission projects that has put NGCP in hot water after households in Luzon suffered widespread power interruptions on May 8.
This prompted NGCP to declare red and yellow alerts on the power-hungry grid.
The DOE pointed to the delayed completion of the Hermosa-San Jose project, the Cebu-Negros-Panay Stage 3 backbone project, and the P52-billion Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project as the main cause of the outages.
However, NGCP said these projects were slated for completion in the coming months.
It noted that while the Energy Regulatory Commission had provisionally approved the Hermosa-San Jose project with a cost of P10.2 billion, it only allowed the partial recovery of P19 million, or less than 1 percent of total.
“Given the urgent need to widen the transmission highway along the Bataan corridor, NGCP implemented the [Hermosa-San Jose project], setting aside for later the issue on recovery approvals from the ERC,” NGCP said.
For his part, billionaire Henry Sy. Jr., a major stockholder and NGCP’s former president and chief executive officer, said financial considerations “can take a back seat and be threshed out later.” INQ