NGCP lines up 6 major transmission projects

MANILA, Philippines—National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, operator of the country’s electricity superhighway, plans to embark on six critical transmission projects worth a total of P96 billion.

These projects will make the national grid the strongest among its peers in Southeast Asia, said the company.

In a recent briefing, NGCP deputy department manager Giovanni R.A. Galang identified the six major projects as the P3.6-billion Northern Luzon 230-kilovolt (kV) Backbone; P9.2-billion Western Luzon 500kV Backbone; P14-billion Metro Manila 500kV Backbone; P11-billion Batangas-Mindoro Interconnection; P36-billion Cebu-Negros-Panay 230kV Backbone; and the P22-billion Leyte-Mindanao Interconnection Project (LMIP).

An alternative to the LMIP, in case it will not be feasible, is the P29-billion Negros-Mindanao Interconnection project which, if chosen, would jack up the total investment requirements for the six projects to about P103 billion over the next five to eight years.

All the projects, which are targeted to be put up over the next five to eight years, are geared toward improving and increasing the capacity of the transmission facilities to meet the additional volume to be produced by several new power generation facilities.

The Northern Luzon 230-kV backbone project targets to provide adequate facilities up north, to cater to the huge wind power generation potential of the region. It also aims to improve the overall reliability of the transmission network.

NGCP has already identified the initial locations of the substations to be put up along the 230 kV loop, which will serve as the connection point for the wind power plants. These are the sites closest to the proposed wind power plants in the area.

In anticipation of the increase in the generation capacity in Bataan and Pangasinan, the Western Luzon 500 kV backbone project aims to develop a western corridor backbone that will allow the transmission of power from the generation sites to Metro Manila and ensure the overall reliability, security and stability of the grid.

The Metro Manila 500 kV backbone will, meanwhile, address the growing power demand in the metropolis. Metro Manila accounts for about 70 percent of the total power load in Luzon and would thus require a transmission backbone that has a capacity to transfer larger volume of power from the north and south.

In the meantime, the P11-billion Batangas-Mindoro Interconnection project targets to develop a 230-kV interconnection facility between the main grid Luzon and the power grid in Mindoro.