VisMin power grid seen interconnected by 2020

MANILA, Philippines — The interconnection of the Visayas and Mindanao power grids by 2020 will boost  the reliability of the power grid and allow the country to participate in regional trading amid ASEAN integration, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said.

NGCP recently launched the P52-billion Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) which will unify the country’s transmission network, allowing the grid to become resilient in the face of calamities and to provide power to where it is needed the most.

The massive project will directly affect 35 local government units (LGUs) across four provinces in Visayas and Mindanao, NGCP said.

Once the MVIP is completed in 2020, the Philippines is closer to having a reliable transmission network that can sustain the energy demand across the country, the grid operator said.

“This landmark project will boost investments, infrastructure and commerce, among others, as it stands to bring about a more stable, sufficient and resilient power supply needed to sustain the region, and in effect, the entire country’s socioeconomic progress. Any energy-related obstacles will be resolved with the sharing and efficient use of all grid-connected power sources, from as far as Ilocos in the north, to Davao in the south,” NGCP president and CEO Anthony Almeda said.

Visayas is currently suffering from an energy shortage due to a variety of factors, while Mindanao is experiencing a surplus of power brought about by the influx of new generating capacity in the island.

NGCP said putting the MVIP in place reinforces the Mindanao transmission backbone that will be completed by the first quarter of 2019.

“This backbone will allow NGCP to manage a transmission network in Mindanao enough to maximize the MVIP’s full capacity,” the grid operator said.

Apart from solving internal transmission issues, NGCP said unifying the Philippines’ transmission grid also fulfils one of the country’s commitments to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which envisions to be an economic community in the next few years.

“The interconnection of the Philippine transmission grid will allow us to participate in the multilateral energy trading activity within Southeast Asia as the ASEAN gears up for economic integration later on,” Almeda said.