Napocor energizes P691 million Palawan line

MANILA, Philippines — State-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) has energized a new P691-million transmission line that will  address the rising electricity demand in Palawan.

Napocor said the newly inaugurated Roxas-Taytay 69-kilovolt (kV) transmission line stretches the province’s backbone transmission to the northern municipality of Taytay.

The 71.3 circuit kilometer line was bidded out and awarded in two schedules. The first half was awarded to SL Development Construction Corp., while the second half was completed by DM Consunji Inc.

“With this new transmission line, we’ll not only improve power dispatch and eventually decrease systems loss, but we can also accommodate more power generators to cater to the growing electricity needs of Palawan,” Napocor president and CEO Fernando Martin Roxas said.

He said the completion of the transmission line is part of the corporation’s vision of providing reliable electricity and typhoon-resilient facilities in the provinces where it maintains and operates the transmission system.

On top of operating Palawan’s transmission system, Napocor also maintains 24 Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) power plants in the far-flung islands of Palawan.

“We are happy to be part of this continuous progress of Palawan. We are sure that development doesn’t stop here as we are committed to energizing more areas, sustaining the operations of our power plants here, and optimizing the operations of our 69-kV transmission lines,” Roxas said.

Napocor, as mandated by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, is tasked to perform missionary electrification in islands not connected to the main transmission grid.

It operates a total of 281 SPUG power plants nationwide.

Napocor also develops and maintains the transmission systems of Palawan, Oriental and Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Masbate and Catanduanes.

With the government’s push for clean and sustainable energy, Napocor is also looking to ramp up the use of renewable energy in its services areas.

Roxas earlier said Napocor intends to work with the private sector to expedite the deployment of renewable energy in its service areas.