CEBU, Philippines - The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines is now conducting an assessment on the proposed power connection of Central Visayas provinces through a submarine cable.
The Regional Development Council (RDC)-7 said the proposal to have Cebu-Bohol and Cebu-Negros Oriental-Siquijor power connections will promote power stability in the region.
Acting RDC-7 secretary Rosa Edna Hubahib informed the body in the recent full council meeting that the NGCP, in a January 21, 2014 letter, would update the body on the said proposal once they finish the assessment.
Hubahib said that the Department of Energy also asked the National Transmission Corporation (TransCo), National Power Corporation (NPC) and the National Electrification Administration (NEA) for their comments and inputs regarding the proposal.
The RDC-7 secretariat has assured to closely monitor the activity.
The proposal is said to be a long-term recommendation the RDC ad hoc committee on power restoration identified to address the shortage of power supply in Central Visayas due to damage caused by typhoon Yolanda on power structures and facilities.
The ad hoc committee was created during the joint meeting of the RDC Infrastructure Development Committee (IDC) and the Power Subcommittee last November to recommend measures to solve the problem.
The committee was composed of the National Economic Development Authority-Region 7 as head, with the DOE-Visayas Field Office, East Asia Utilities Corporation (for power generator), NGCP (for transmission lines), Mactan Electric Company or MECO (for distribution utility), and private sector representatives from the IDC and one representative from the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry as members. (FREEMAN)