The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) called on the need for more investments in power generation to fully optimize the benefits of the recently strengthened transmission interconnection in the country.
“…Transmission and power generation go hand in hand. Sufficient power generation development supported by reliable transmission is the formula for optimized energy development. This will support the country’s push towards economic recovery,” said NGCP, in a statement.
“We have long advocated for a holistic approach to energy industry development. Generation and transmission must be developed together. One cannot be made to bear the whole burden of keeping the industry stable,” the company added.
NGCP recently energized the Cebu-Negros-Panay 230 kiloVolt (kV) backbone project stage 3 (CNP3) that effectively increased the transfer of power capacity from Panay to Negros to Cebu and vice versa.
CNP3 is comprised of 544 transmission towers spanning 354 circuit kilometers of overhead lines, 58 circuit kilometers of submarine cables and 10 substations.
NGCP said that even after the completion of the project, it has yet to receive final approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission for the total project cost of P43.41 billion.
In 2017, ERC granted a provisional approval for only one year’s worth of capital expenditure amounting to P176.75 million.
“…While the line will help improve the delivery of power, more baseload plants in Negros and more in-island generation in Panay are needed to prevent the occurrence of power outages,” NGCP said.
Aside from the CNP3, NGCP also recently energized the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection which fully linked Mindanao to Luzon and Visayas as well as a circuit line of the Hermosa-San Jose 500kV transmission line considered critical to the Luzon Grid.
