By Lenie Lectura - March 13,
2017
The National Grid Corp. of the
Philippines (NGCP) announced it will undertake several major
facility-improvement programs this year to ensure reliable transmission of
power.
“NGCP has built 2,472
circuit-kilometers [ct km] of transmission lines since we took over. This
year 24 transmission projects are set to be completed, 26 are in the middle of
construction and 22 projects will commence. In total, that’s an additional
674.9 ct km of lines to be added to the country’s transmission network for 2017
alone,” the company said on Monday.
Among the projects NGCP is pursuing
are the Luzon 500-kilovolt (kV) backbone, to accommodate incoming generating
plants; the Cebu-Negros-Panay backbone, to improve power sharing between the
major islands; and the Mindanao 230-kV backbone, to reinforce the Mindanao grid
as new plants come online.
“Another aspect of NGCP’s commitment
is to ensure that all its facilities are well-maintained and reliable. Our
continuous auditing of existing assets has resulted in a preventive replacement
program designed to mitigate any unplanned transmission outages,” it said.
The program outlines the replacement
of aging towers and poles and substation equipment over the next four years.
For this year, the grid operator is
set to replace 2,134 wood poles considered grid facilities with steel
structures. These wooden poles were parts of the aging transmission facilities
NGCP inherited from National Transmission Corp. (Transco) when it took
over as
concessionaire in 2009.
concessionaire in 2009.
NGCP is also set to replace an
additional 417 wood poles—considered residual subtransmission assets—this year. Facilities
that serve to strengthen the network as a whole are considered grid facilities,
while those that serve a single entity or user, whether that user is a
power plant, a distribution utility or directly connected industrial
consumer, is considered a subtransmission asset.
Since 2009, NGCP has installed a
total of 13,200 megaVolt-amperes (MVA) of substation capacity. Over
30 transformers in substations across the country are also set to be replaced
between 2017 and 2019.
Nine transformers with 300 MVA, 100
MVA and 50 MVA ratings located in critical areas, such as Las Piñas, San Jose
and Naga, among others, are expected to be replaced this year alone.
“That’s an additional 1,480 MVA in
substation capacity over the next three years,” NGCP said.
“When we took over, it was very
clear to us that upgrading and improving the failing and aging facilities we
inherited from Transco was top priority.
At the time this concession was bid
out, many of the transmission facilities already reached, or were about to reach
its maximum economic life. It was very clear to us that government could no
longer continue to fund the massive transmission-related projects needed to
ensure that the transmission facilities remained relevant, up to date, and able
to address the pressing needs of a growing economy,” the company said.
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