Natl Grid wants P4.5-B transmission projects approved

To meet the transmission needs of existing power plants and those to be commissioned in the future, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is asking the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to approve P4.5 billion worth of electricity transmission projects. Apart from the provisional authority to start the projects, National Grid also wants the authority from ERC to recover the cost of the transmission projects from its consumers. Its top is to upgrade the 203 kilo-Volt (kV) Kalayaan-New Makban transmission system, which the National Grid said would cost P2.089 billion. The upgrade would include building a new 230-kV double-circuit transmission line, as well as the expansion of substations and the installation of new protection, control, and communications equipment. "This is intended to accommodate the full dispatch of existing baseload power plants and the commissioning of future power generation projects in South Luzon," the NGCP said. National Grid, which took over the operations of state-owned National Transmission Corp. in January 2009, wants the ERC to issue a provisional authority so that NGCP could immediately start the project. It also sought ERC approval to build a new 230/115-kV substation in Antipolo to meet increasing loads from Metro Manila's demand for electricity. The NGCP said in documents it submitted to the ERC that the Antipolo project would cost P1.749 billion. Another project the National Grid wants the ERC to approve is the 230-kV San Esteban-Laoag transmission line, designed to meet the connection facilities for the 86-MW wind project of Energy Development Corp. and the 82-MW wind project of Northern Luzon UPC Asia Corp. The San Esteban-Laoag project, estimated to cost NGCP P456.56 million, involves the construction of a 500-meter 115-kV transmission line and expansion of the existing Laoag substation. The National Grid would also installat control and protection equipment at the Laoag, Curimao, Bantay, and San Esteban substations under the project. National Grid also filed with the ERC its P267.98-million Visayas substation reliability project, which involves increasing the capacity of its Compostela substation. It also sought approval for the Dasmariñas EHV substation project, which involves the construction of a 600-mega Volt Ampere (MVA) to increase the substation’s transmission capacity. The project would allow the Dasmariñas substation to keep the "single outage or N-1 contingency" from breaking down during the maximum dispatch of the 1,200-MW Ilijan natural gas plants, the 600-MW Quezon Power Philippines coal plant, and the 700-MW Pagbilao coal-fired power plant. National Grid said it has committed about P10 billion to complete its priority transmission line projects for the year, including the Monte Oro Grid (now owned by the Henry Sy Jr. Group of One Taipan Holdings), and the Calaca High Power Corp. led by Robert Coyuito Jr. and the State Grid Corporation of China - the consortium which won the 25-year lease agreement for the country's transmission highway. The Philippine network consists of 20,236 circuit kilometers of transmission and sub-transmission lines with a total capacity of 24,607 MVA. —VS, GMANEws.TV