The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said it had met with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) last week to discuss streamlining of regulatory compliance.
At the meeting, NGCP was led by its vice chairman, Henry Sy Jr. while the ERC was led by chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta.
“Following our technical team’s discussion on the Transmission Development Plan (TDP) yesterday (August 1), our meeting with chairperson Dimalanta will hopefully pave the way to ensure efficiency of our regulatory compliance processes and timelines. We were assured that all processes involving NGCP will be characterized by the ‘enabling environment and rule of law’ mentioned by President Marcos in his SONA (State of the Nation Address),” said Sy, in a statement.
NGCP earlier said it is outsourcing some aspects of the system impact studies (SIS) pending the issuance of the accreditation by the ERC.
The company said this and other initiatives will further augment the organization’s capabilities and expedite the completion of SIS which are challenged by the long queue of prospective power plant connections.
The SIS is a critical assessment that determines the capacity of the power grid to accommodate a new generator which also identifies necessary improvements such as additional transmission lines, transformers or substations.
In a separate statement, the ERC said NGCP presented its TDP for the years 2023-2040 which serves as the company’s strategic plan to address the country’s transmission infrastructure needs that also outlines the necessary expansion and upgrade of the transmission system to ensure reliable and efficient delivery of electricity across the Philippines.
ERC said among the highlights of NGCP’s roadmap to achieve the country’s generation target is the drive of renewable energy sources which align with the target of the Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) that seeks to increase renewable energy generation to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.
ERC said that NGCP’s involvement is crucial as implementing the PEP will require updating transmission lines to efficiently transmit additional supply to distribution utilities.
