National Grid Corp. of the Philippines is seeking the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission to develop several transmission projects, including the Grid Protection Relay Replacement project costing P8.9 billion to help maintain and improve the reliability of the power grid.
NGCP sought approval to replace protection relays in the entire grid to ensure its safe, secure and reliable operation.
“The replacement is necessary as there are protection relays found to be defective, obsolete and outdated. There are transmission line and high voltage equipment with no redundant protections and there are substations with no breaker failure relays installed,” it said.
The project will be implemented over a period of 72 months. The GPRRP is scheduled to be completed by 2025.
NGCP also asked for approval to implement the Luzon Voltage Improvement Project 6 to address power quality during peak load and N-1 conditions at various substations in the Luzon grid.
The project is estimated to cost P1.359 billion over an implementation period of 38 months.
NGCP is also seeking approval for the Pinamucan-Tuy 500 kV transmission line project that would provide another 500 kV transmission corridor to accommodate additional power in Batangas City, which is being promoted as a liquefied natural gas terminal hub. The P6.24-billion project will be implemented over 65 months.
Meanwhile, NGCP also plans to implement the South Luzon substation upgrading project 2 that will cater to the load growth and provide contingency to South Luzon substations.
The project, costing P5.77 billion, will ensure reliability and flexibility of operations on the various substations and improve power quality. It will be implemented over a period of 60 months.
Other projects for ERC approval are the P1-billion Ambuklao-Binga 230 kV transmission line updating project, P3.6-billion Binga-San Manuel 230 kV transmission line project, P317-million permanent restoration of Panitan-Nabas 138kV line affected by typhoon Ursula, P2.26-billion Visayas Voltage improvement project 2, P1.94-billion Malaybalay 138kV substation project, P2.33-billion Tumaga 138 kV substation project and the P541-million Sultan Kudarat-Pinaring 69kV transmission line upgrading project.
NGCP said that along with its responsibility for the planning, construction and centralized operation and maintenance of high-voltage transmission facilities, the company should ensure the reliable and high-performance operation of the transmission system.
“Thus to avoid disruption of operation and ensure continuous compliance with NGCP’s mandate under the EPIRA as the transmission operator, it is imperative that the implementation of the projected capex projects be immediately approved,” it said.