The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said it is now significantly closer to unifying the Philippine grid after completing several components of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP).
Among the recently completed key components are the Santander and Dapitan cable terminal stations, the 350 kiloVolt (kV) submarine cable and the Lala-Aurora 138kV transmission line.
NGCP said the project, which costs P52 billion, is still slated for completion by yearend “barring any unforeseen circumstances.”
“NGCP is happy to report that these critical MVIP components are now complete and ready for energization. We hope this would finish on time, but factors beyond our control required an adjustment to our project timeline. We are working double-time to complete the overhead transmission line portions and advance the project to its commissioning stage to connect the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao grids,” the company said in a statement.
NGCP continues to appeal for the support of local and national governments for the resolution of the delays in permitting and right-of-way issues, including slow judicial processes and unsupportive landowners.
Through the MVIP, the Mindanao grid will be linked to the Visayas grid using an HVDC system with a 450 megawatts initial capacity.
NGCP is set to invest as much as P440 billion in the next 13 years to develop over 200 projects aimed to support the growing electricity demand in the country and to make the country’s power backbone continuously reliable. – Jed Macapagal
