NGCP targeting to complete Vismin power grid in Q1 2022

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is aiming to complete the Mindanao-visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) within the first quarter of next year.

“We are targeting that date, first quarter of 2022,” said NGCP President Anthony Almeda said during last week’s hearing of the House Committee on Energy.

Almeda said the delay in the

completion of MVIP was mostly due to unresolved right-of-way issues. “Our main real problem only now is a couple of landowners but the lines are there, even our substations are all over already from one side to another.” He said NGCP is closely working on this and is in constant communication with the people involved. “Everything is in place already. It’s just the land that has to be given to our technical group. We will push hard for the timeline.”

The MVIP, certified as an Energy Project of National Significance in 2018, was initially targeted for completion by December 2020 but was extended to December 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent quarantine restrictions across the country. Several portions of its fiber optic cable connection were also damaged recently.

Upon completion, the MVIP will connect the Visayas and Mindanao grids through a high voltage direct current (HVDC) system with a 450 Megawatt (MW) initial capacity. The project covers 184 circuit kilometers (ckm) of submarine cables and 526 ckm of overhead wires connecting Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte to Santander, Cebu.

The NGCP reported last February that the submarine cable no.1 portion of the MVIP’S Dapitansantander 350kv high voltage direct current (HVDC) line between Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte and Santander, Cebu, was found to have been damaged in several locations.

NGCP had said that it was working on a catch-up plan given the fragility of handling fiber optic submarine cables.