NGCP: Vis-Min power grid link at full capacity by year-end

MANILA  -National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the country’s lone power grid operator, seeks to run the P52-billion Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) at its full capacity by the end of the year, citing a “final component” that still needs to be energized.

NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza on Wednesday said MVIP was currently running at around 50 percent, or 225 megawatts (MW), of its total 450-MW capacity.

“We still have remaining work for certain components that we expect to finish this month, and the final component will have to be energized before the end of the year,” Alabanza told reporters.

MVIP, one of NGCP’s largest transmission projects, connected Mindanao to the national grid in April this year, finally allowing power sharing among the country’s three main island groups.

Construction for the project began in 2017, and the facility initially ran at 22.5 MW when it started commercial operations this year via a 185-circuit-kilometer submarine transmission line.

READ: NGCP’s Vis-Min grid linkup nears completion

The Santander and Dapitan cable terminal stations and two 350-kilovolt (kV) submarine cable lines were completed in June this year, followed by the Magdugo-Dumanjug 230-kV line in September.

Once at full capacity, MVIP is estimated to provide electricity to as many as 450,000 households.

The six-year construction and development timeline, Alabanza pointed out, was still below the global average of requiring seven to 10 years to finish transmission projects despite restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Is it delayed? Yes, because I think we wanted to do it faster. But is it par for the course? Better, because this is despite COVID-19 lockdowns. We’re talking about supply chain, manufacturing and shipping delays,” she said.

NGCP was under much scrutiny earlier this year over its delayed transmission line projects, with the Department of Energy pointing out that the timely completion of the projects could have prevented widespread power interruptions in Luzon.

READ: NGCP blames red tape, right-of-way issues for woes

MVIP was originally scheduled for completion in December 2020 but COVID-19 lockdowns forced NGCP to push back the start of its operations to this year.

It was among the 37 delayed projects flagged by the Energy Regulatory Commission in July.

“I know we’ve been criticized that the COVID-19 excuse was already getting old, but it’s a reality. It did a number on us but we were still able to energize it within six years,” Alabanza said.