By Lenie Lectura - March 2, 2017
The National Transmission Corp.
(TransCo) wants the P52-billion Visayas-Mindanao Interconnection Project (VMIP)
to be shouldered by the government and not power consumers.
“I want to look for a way that the
cost of the connection should not be passed on to consumers,” TransCo President
Melvin Matibag said on Thursday afternoon.
The National Grid Corp. of the
Philippines (NGCP), which won the concession to operate and manage the grid
system in December 2007 for $3.95 billion, will undertake the project
envisioned to be completed by 2020.
“That [P52 billion] will be an
additional cost to the consumer. Baka matapos na iyung concession, ’di
pa nabayaran ’yung P52 billion. [The P52- billion expense may remain unpaid
beyond the expiry of the concession.]I want to look for a way that the cost of
the connection should not be passed on to consumers,” he said.
One option is for the project amount
to be included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA). “I’m having some
representation from our Congress. I’m thinking if it can be included into the
GAA [since it’s not included in the items]. I’m just thinking of ways for
consumers will no longer bear the cost of that interconnection,” Matibag said.
“I want to know if we can do that.”
The TransCo chief said this is still
being reviewed. He said a provision in the concession agreement states that the
development and improvement of the transmission grid is exclusive to the
concessionaire. “I want to define that exclusiv[ity clause,” he said.
Last month NGCP made public the
result of a study that will interconnect the Visayas and Mindanao grids.
“NGCP is pleased to report that we
already finished the hydrographic survey that will determine the route of the
Visayas-Mindanao Interconnection Project. With this development, we now have a
clearer plan on the project’s implementation. Power- resource sharing between
the country’s major islands will now become a reality,” the grid operator said.
In an NGCP-commissioned hydrographic
survey conducted from September to November 2016, a viable route along the
country’s western seaboard—beginning in Cebu and terminating in Dipolog—was
determined as viable for the implementation of the plans of interconnecting the
Visayas and Mindanao grids.
The project is envisioned to be
finished by 2020, assuming all regulatory approvals are secured on time.
The Luzon and the Visayas grids have
long been connected via NGCP’s Naga-Ormoc High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC)
line.
With the hydrographic survey result,
NGCP will now proceed with the preparation of a conceptual design, detailed
cost-estimate and update of system simulation study using the Cebu-Dipolog
route, in order to complete documents needed when it filed its application
before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in April this year.
“We need the support of the
government, the Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources and the different local government units the project will
traverse, among others, to push this forward. With their full support, we are
confident that we will be able to complete this project on time,” stated the
company.
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