NGCP breaks ground on cable terminal stations for MVIP

By Lenie Lectura  -November 12, 2018

https://businessmirror.com.ph/ngcp-breaks-ground-on-cable-terminal-stations-for-mvip/

THE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) recently broke ground on the new cable terminal stations, which serve as a major component of the multibillion-peso Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP).

The cable terminal stations will be located in the municipality of Santander, Cebu, and Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte. These will serve as the landing points of the two 92-kilometer submarine cables which will carry around 450 megawatts (MW) of power from the Visayas and Mindanao, and vice versa.

The NGCP assures the completion of the MVIP in 2020.

“This is just the first in a long series of small achievements toward the successful completion of this project,” the NGCP said. “We are confident that the NGCP team will exhibit the commitment and skills needed to push the project and realize the interconnected transmission network within the committed time frame,” added the company.

The MVIP, provisionally approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission in 2017, is considered the biggest power infrastructure project in the country’s history. Apart from the submarine cables and cable terminal stations, the P52-billion project also entails the installation of 526 circuit-kilometers of overhead transmission lines, high-voltage direct current converter stations, and various upgrades to substations in both regions.

In May 2018 the Department of Energy also certified the MVIP as an Energy Project of National Significance, in order to streamline and expedite the needed documents for the construction and completion of the project.

“We call on our stakeholders, concerned government agencies and units, communities, consumer groups, and the public, to support us as we advance toward completing the MVIP, and implement a broader interisland connectivity,” said the NGCP.

The NGCP is a Filipino-led, privately owned company in charge of operating, maintaining and developing the country’s power grid, led by majority shareholders Henry Sy Jr. and Robert Coyiuto Jr.