The Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project is expected to be completed by end of March this year, the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines, the operator of the electricity spot market, said over the weekend.
IEMOP chief operating officer Robinson Descanzo said they confirmed with National Grid Corp. of the Philippines technical personnel that the energization testing would be held next month.
The MVIP will link the Mindanao grid to the Visayas grid via a high voltage direct current system with a 450-megawatt initial capacity.
“They are completing the testing until they fully energize the cable. Gradually, they will start exporting small [power capacity] for export-import through that interconnection until they reach the maximum capacity of that cable,” Descanzo said.
“It will be gradual export of power from Mindanao to Visayas and vice versa,” Descanzo said.
NGCP already completed the critical components of MVIP including the Santander and Dapitan Cable Terminal Stations, the 350-kiloVolt submarine cable and the Lala-Aurora 138-kV transmission line.
MVIP is one of the critical components of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in Mindanao. WESM started commercial operations on Jan. 26.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the March completion of the MVIP during the formal launch of WESM Mindanao.
MVIP is expected to connect the three power grids of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao into one unified national grid by 2020.
“With a unified national grid, power transmission services in the country will be more reliable as there will be less power interruptions nationwide due to the sharing of local energy resources. Reliable electricity transmission, in turn, could help boost investments, infrastructure development, and commerce in the country,” said NGCP.
The completion of the MVIP will result in a more stable and secure supply of power in the country and will maximize the use of available local energy resources.
“This will support the national government’s vision to interconnect the major power grids, which would then help improve the overall power supply security of the country through the sharing of reserves,” said the company.
“This will also support the overall operations of the Philippine electricity market by allowing the optimization of all available energy sources, including the additional generation capacities that will be implemented in Visayas and Mindanao,” NGCP said.
NGCP is a Filipino-led, privately owned company in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s electricity transmission grid, led by majority shareholders and vice chairman of the board Henry Sy Jr. and co-vice chairman Robert Coyiuto Jr.
It is the sole operating asset of listed Synergy Grid and Development Philippines, Inc.