NGCP seeks gov’t OK for P663M project

MANILA, Philippines—National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) is seeking the government’s approval for its P663-million substation expansion project in Parañaque City that will support the electricity needs of the 120-hectare Entertainment City locators and surrounding establishments.

In a filing with the Energy Regulatory Commission, NGCP said the project was intended to augment the capacity of the Zapote substation, address load growth and provide single outage contingency.

Among the considerations for the expansion is the substation project of Manila Electric Co (Meralco), which will serve the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.’s (Pagcor) hotel and casino complex in 120-hectare reclaimed area of the Manila Bay.

“The said Meralco substation (called Pagcor-1 substation) would source its power from the Zapote substation,” NGCP said.

The ERC has given Meralco provisional authority to proceed with the construction of the almost P1.16-billion Pagcor-1 substation and related facilities. Meralco said the project could add P3.6 billion to the power distributor’s annual sales.

The proposed Zapote substation expansion project has two main components: the substation component consisting of a power transformer and related equipment, and the control and protection system component consisting of a substation automation control system, transformer protection and breaker failure relay.

NGCP said the Zapote substation was one of the six existing substations serving Metro Manila.

Space limitations and heavy loading condition of the existing transformers are the common concerns of the six substations.