NGCP BOOSTING POWER GRID FOR BOOMING BORACAY

AKLAN—The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the country’s grid operator, is targeting to finish in two years’ time a P5.48-billion transmission project to meet the increasing demand in Boracay island.

NGCP said the 138-kiloVolt Nabas-Caticlan-Boracay line will help address the growing load requirements or the growing demand for electricity and provide reliability in the island and Aklan province.

Henry Labrada, head of NGCP’s Interconnection Projects Division, said the current transmission line can still accommodate the area’s power demand that is inching closer to the maximum capacity of 27 megawatts (MW).

Labrada said prior to the coronavirus pandemic, consumption was pegged at 37 megawatts.

“Luckily, the pandemic curtailed the demand. Yet because of that, we encountered delays in undertaking the project,” he added.

Based on their simulations, electricity demand is projected to reach 102 MW by 2030 and increase further to 175 MW by 2040. This prompted NGCP to reinforce its existing transmission lines in the area.

Labrada said the Nabas-Caticlan-Boracay project is underway as they have already started the site development and the heavy equipment to be used for this line has already arrived.

“We still have to resolve some issues in implementing projects as many issues might crop up,” he added.

The project has various components: underground and submarine cables connecting the mainland to Boracay island, overhead transmission lines, a cable terminal station, a new Boracay substation and an upgraded Nabas substation.