National Grid Corporation of the Philippines is set to implement projects to strengthen the country’s transmission system.
“When we took over, it was very clear to us that upgrading and improving the failing and aging facilities we inherited from the National Transmission Corporation (Transco) was top priority,” National Grid said in a statement.
National Grid took over the operations of Transco in January 15, 2009.
National Grid won the right to manage and operate the country’s transmission highway with a bid of $3.95 billion.
“At the time this concession was bid out, many of the transmission facilities already reached, or were about to reach its maximum economic life. It was very clear to us that government could no longer continue to fund the massive transmission related projects needed to ensure that the transmission facilities remained relevant, up to date, and able to address the pressing needs of a growing economy,” the company said.
National Grid, which holds the 25-year concession contract, is comprised of Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp. led by Henry Sy Jr. (30 percent), Calaca High Power Corp. led by Robert Coyiuto Jr. (30 percent) and the State Grid of China (40 percent) as technical partner.
“NGCP has built 2,472 circuit-kilometers (ct. km.) of transmission lines since we took over. This year, 24 transmission projects are set to be completed, 26 are in the middle of construction, and 22 projects will commence. In total, that’s an additional 674.9 ct.km. of lines to be added to the country’s transmission network for 2017 alone,” the company said.
National Grid is pursuing the Luzon 500kV backbone to accommodate incoming generating plants, the Cebu-Negros-Panay backbone to improve power sharing between the major islands, and the Mindanao 230kV backbone to reinforce the Mindanao grid as new plants come online.
“Another aspect of NGCP’s commitment is to ensure that all its facilities are well-maintained and reliable. Our continuous auditing of existing assets has resulted in a preventive replacement program designed to mitigate any unplanned transmission outages. The program outlines the replacement of aging towers and poles and substation equipment over the next four years,” National Grid said.