National Grid eyes top spot in Southeast Asia

MANILA, Philippines - Applying its world-class expertise in transmission management, the State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC) will aim to make the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) as the number one power transmission firm in Southeast Asia.

NGCP, the vehicle used by the consortium composed of SGCC, Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp., and Calaca High Power Corp. won the bidding for the 25-year lease agreement of the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo).

“Our goal is to make NGCP the number one in Southeast Asia. This is our goal,” Zhang Qiqing, director general for international cooperation of the SGCC, told reporters in a briefing over the weekend.

According to the SGCC official, they aim to make NGCP at par with neighboring countries in terms of delivering reliable power.

“As we know now, the Philippine grid is good and the performance is not so bad so far. It’s our goal to make it comparable with other countries in Southeast Asia,” he said.

He said they look forward to achieving this goal within the concession period.

“With our range of experience, we are optimistic that we can do this during the course of the 25-year concession period. And now we have to plan for it,” he said.

He said they are now currently finalizing the short-term plan for NGCP to take into account the priority projects that they would like to undertake in the next five years.

The official said they also intend to regularly assess the plan to make sure that everything is done in order.

He explained that to be able to make a reliable transmission grid, they would need more capital.

“If we want the network to be more stable, we need to put more money in the construction or upgrading of the system,” he said.

In the case of SGCC, he said they are alloting billions of dollars to improve the network in China.

For his part, State Grid International Development Ltd. president and CEO Sun Jinping said SGCC has been investing about $40 billion a year for capital expenditure to deliver reliable supply of electricity in China.

NGCP president Walter Brown earlier said they intend to pour in P10 billion for its capex as indicated in the Transmission Development Plan. Under the TDP, the concessionaire will have to pour in $850 million for the period 2006-2010.

In 2008, SGCC, China’s leading power transmission and distribution company, recorded sales revenues of $160 billion or a 15.2 percent increase compared to 2007. It ranked 24th in the 2008 Fortune’s Global 500.

With total assets of $240 billion and 1.5 million employees, SGCC serves over one billion people and has 145 million customers.

In 2010, SGCC expects all the households in its franchise areas in China to be electrified.

Aside from the Philippines, SGCC also has overseas operations in other parts of Asia, Africa and Europe.