Land row hits NGCP project

MANILA, Philippines — Grid operator National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) hit a legal roadblock in undertaking one of the critical transmission projects in the provinces of Batangas and Cavite.

In a statement on Friday, NGCP said it had filed expropriation cases against E. M. Ramos and Sons Inc. and several other defendants “who claim interest over the properties” affected by the construction of its 500-kilovolt Tuy-Dasmariñas transmission line project.

Even though the expropriation court had already issued a writ of possession (WOP) for three properties covering six tower sites in 2020, NGCP said the court recalled the WOP and directed the relocation of one of the towers four years later or in November last year.

NGCP filed a motion for reconsideration, hoping to overturn the court’s recall order, “arguing that ordering the relocation of public infrastructure for which an expropriation case has been filed is beyond the powers of an expropriation court absent a finding of fraud, bad faith, or abuse of discretion.”

Appeal for swift resolution

The grid operator is appealing for the swift resolution of the case, warning it would significantly delay the completion of the Tuy-Dasmariñas transmission project.

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“Any delay in the project’s implementation will also impede the entry of additional power supply from new power plants,” NGCP said.

“Otherwise, we may face power interruptions to customers in parts of Metro Manila, North, and South Luzon,” it added.

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Some of the power plants are under construction while other facilities in the pipeline are still in the “indicative” stage and will be commissioned within the next six years.

At present, NGCP’s substation in Calaca municipality is the sole substation in the western part of Batangas. It delivers more than 2,000 megawatts of electricity, mainly to South Luzon and Metro Manila.