NGCP to spend P80 B for critical transmission projects

MANILA, Philippines -  The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) is looking to spend P80 billion for critical transmission projects until 2020.

This was the amount filed with the Energy Regulatory Commission for approval, NGCP research and special studies head Vicente Viloria said during 2016 Business Journalism Seminar organized by San Miguel Corp. and the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines.

“We already submitted for 2016 and then second we submitted the capital expenditures for 2016 to 2020. I think the total is already P80 billion approximately. Most of them are already approved but some projects, the approval is still pending,” he said.

The application, however, is still subject to changes based on the evaluation and final decision of the power regulator, Viloria said.

Based on NGCP data, 24 projects are set for completion this year, 26 are in the middle of construction, and 22 projects will commence.

In total, an additional 674.9 circuit-kilometers of lines will be added to the country’s transmission network for 2017 alone.

Among the projects NGCP is pursuing under the five-year program 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. 

Also part of the program is the replacement of wooden poles and other aging transmission facilities the grid operator inherited from the National Transmission Corp. when it took over as concessionaire in 2009.  

For this year, the grid operator is set to replace 2,134 wood poles that are considered grid facilities with steel structures. It is also set to replace an additional 417 wood poles which are considered as residual sub-transmission assets.