N.G.C.P. LAYS OUT CRUCIAL TRANSMISSION PROJECTS

THE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) has enumerated a number of transmission projects that are part of its annual Transmission Development Plan (TDP) for 2019-2040.

“Recognizing the crucial need for reliable power to the economic development of the nation, NGCP again presented its annual TDP [2019-2040] to map the company’s short-term and long-term objectives in securing the Philippine transmission landscape,” the grid operator said on Monday.

The TDP is NGCP’s road map, updated annually, for the continuous expansion of the Philippine grid, detailing all ongoing and future undertakings of the company, including all Energy Regulatory Commissionapproved projects, affected areas, significant milestones and expected completion dates.

Among NGCP’s significant projects in the TDP are the Bataan Grid Reinforcement Project and the Western Luzon 500-kiloVolt Backbone Project for Luzon, the Visayas Substation Reliability project and Cebu-Negros-Panay Interconnection Project in the Visayas, and the 230-kV Backbone Project for Mindanao.

NGCP said it is still committed to complete its Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project, which will see the realization of one Philippine grid in 2020.

“As the Philippine economy continues to grow, so must we in the power sector continue to develop our infrastructure in order to cater to an ever-expanding network. As NGCP is in a unique position to balance the supply and demand, the Transmission Development Plan is imperative in supporting the growth of the entire industry,” stated NGCP.

As the system operator, NGCP also oversees grid security and reliability, power quality, and power dispatching and scheduling. As such, NGCP designed the TDP to help identify and mitigate causes of power interruptions and transmissionrelated outages.

To keep improving its transmission planning process, NGCP also holds public consultations for its TDP. This year’s consultations were set in January and February for all three regions. NGCP hopes to hear ideas, suggestions, concerns, and ultimately integrate critical comments from its stakeholders in the energy industry, industries, businesses, and the public, in order to effectively carry out its strategies and implementation schemes in the TDP.

“Through our TDP, we can ensure that we have the necessary infrastructure to fulfill our vision of a strong, unified electricity transmission network that can meet the country’s increasing power needs until 2040—and beyond,” NGCP said.

NGCP is a Filipino-led, privately owned corporation in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s state-owned power grid, and is led by majority shareholders Henry Sy Jr. and Robert Coyiuto, Jr. Lenie Lectura