The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is seeking approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to construct P22-billion interconnection projects that will serve the provinces of Quezon, Marinduque, Batangas and Mindoro Based on NGCP’s application letters released by the ERC, the Quezon-Marinduque interconnection has an estimated project cost of P5.32 billion and an implementation period of 54 months.
NGCP said Marinduque’s peak demand has reached 11.56 megawatts (MW) and the current available generation in the region may soon become insufficient to support the needs of both residential and business power consumers.
The Batangas-Mindoro interconnection has an estimated project cost of P16.87 billion and an implementation period of 110 months.
Mindoro’s power system is currently being operated by Small Power Utilities Group of the National Power Corp., Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative and Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative with the combined total load of the two cooperatives at more than 80 MW as of 2019.
NGCP said with the forecasted increase in demand for Mindoro, the current source of power can no longer accommodate future additional requirements and the island must be connected to the Luzon Grid to gain access to more reliable and competitive generation sources.
The interconnection project will also resolve power interruptions in the island as well as promote the development of wind and solar power projects.
The Batangas-Mindoro project is a prerequisite to the plan to link Palawan to the main grid in support of the government’s direction of interconnecting all off-grid areas.
NGCP said the timely approval of the ERC for the projects is needed considering the time required for planning, site development, right-of-way concerns and actual construction of transmission facilities. – Jed Macapagal
