Monday, April 1, 2013

NGCP explores alternative Vis-Min lin


Manila BulletinBy Myrna M. VelascoPublished: April 1, 2013This was affirmed by the Department of Energy (DOE) and Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) in their presentation to media and stakeholders in the area.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is not limiting its option to the proposed Leyte-Mindanao route for the interconnection of the Visayas-Mindanao grids, it is also looking at Negros-Zamboanga link-up as an alternative.
According to Michael Sinocruz, chief of the DOE’s energy policy and planning bureau, in the system study of NGCP, it is now “including technical analysis of possible routes and alternative connection schemes.”
Given the worsened power supply dilemmas of other areas in Mindanao, the energy official indicated that there is a growing sentiment to have the transmission interconnection of the two grids via the Negros-Zamboanga route.
The final outcome of the study, he said, is expected for completion in March and will eventually be presented to the energy department.
Both MinDA and DOE have noted that the technical consideration of the alternatives routes was sanctioned by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) which approved the budget for the conduct of a feasibility study on the project.
MinDA director Romeo Montenegro has reinforced that the transmission interconnection via Negros and Zamboanga has been integrated in the Mindanao System Power Development Plan crafted by stakeholders and relevant agencies.
At this stage, the energy department has already renamed the venture into Visayas-Mindanao Interconnection Project (VMIP) to reflect anticipated modifications in the implementation design.
From the original plan of a Leyte-Mindanao Interconnection Project (LMIP), it was reckoned that such may eventually change to Negros-Zamboanga Interconnection Project (NZIP). Zamboanga, by the way, is among the worst hit areas in the lingering Mindanao brownouts with more than eight hours of daily rotating power interruptions. 
There have been recent pronouncements from NGCP that the link-up cost of the two grids may still be reduced to $300 million with changes in the connection routes. The original estimate for the LMIP was at P25 billion.
For the feasibility study on the project, NGCP noted that it will need to undertake two-step evaluation process. First, it will be on the technical viability of the interconnection; while the other delves with seabed survey for the underwater installation of transmission cables.   source

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