NGCP to complete Leyte facility upgrade in first quarter

Business Mirror

Published on Monday, 20 May 2013 19:12

Written by Paul Anthony A. Isla / Reporter

THE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the country’s sole power-lines concessionaire, said on Monday it is set to complete the 138-kiloVolt (kV) Ormoc-Maasin transmission line project by the first quarter next year.

The NGCP said in a statement that the Ormoc-Maasin transmission line project is one of its projects deemed to further improve the reliability of the Visayas grid, adding that the project aims to reinforce the existing 138-kV line from Ormoc, Leyte, to Maasin, Southern Leyte, by stringing another circuit into the facility with a 113.97-kilometer span.

The NGCP said the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has approved a project cost of P509.36 million. As of this month, the transmission line component of the project is 49 percent complete.

Lawyer Cynthia P. Alabanza, NGCP spokesman, said improvement of the Visayas grid is critical to the continuity of power service delivery.

“For us to be able to fully dispatch the available supply and meet the growing demands of the Visayas, we need to invest in strengthening our line. Reinforcing our 138-kV Ormoc-Maasin line is one step toward that,” Alabanza said.

The additional circuit on the Ormoc-Maasin line, which is part of the Leyte-Bohol Interconnection System, is compliant with the N-1 contingency of the NGCP, a mechanism designed to help the grid withstand and continue its operations despite a loss of a major system component.

Without the additional circuit, Southern Leyte and Bohol will be cut-off from the grid once the Ormoc-Maasin line experiences a power outage.

Another component of the project is the upgrade of power circuit breakers and installation of corresponding accessories at Ormoc and Maasin substations.  The Ormoc substation receives the power produced by the Leyte Geothermal Fields which is the dominant source of electricity of the Samar and Bohol provinces.

The NGCP is a privately owned corporation in charge of operating, maintaining and developing the country’s power grid. NGCP transmits high-voltage electricity through “power superhighways” that include the interconnected system of transmission lines and towers, substations and related assets. The NGCP’s regular maintenance activities and expansion projects aim to enhance the reliability and quality of electricity delivered to customers.   source