Engineer Fortunato “Atoy” C. Leynes, a former executive at the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO), has been appointed as the new President and CEO of the state-run National Transmission Corporation (TransCo).
His selection was the result of an election process conducted by the TransCo Board.
In a report by the Manila Bulletin, Leynes pledged to bring TransCo to new heights to the best of his ability, emphasizing that taking on the role is a commitment to the nation and the betterment of the electric power industry and the entire country.
Leynes hopes to contribute valuable insights to improve the restructured power sector.
TransCo, as the authorized owner of the country’s power transmission facilities, currently operates under a 25-year concession arrangement with the private firm National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
In addition to its role in managing power transmission facilities, TransCo plays a crucial part in overseeing the trust fund used to compensate and incentivize qualified renewable energy (RE) developers, particularly those with feed-in-tariff (FIT) incentives and long-term power supply agreements (PSAs) from the Green Energy Auction (GEA) program administered by the Department of Energy.
TransCo is also expected to take on the planned ‘parallel grid’ or the “Smart and Green Grid System,” a project advocated by the Department of Energy to facilitate the integration of renewable energy projects into the grid.
In carrying out the plans for TransCo, Leynes draws on his extensive experience of over 40 years in various facets of the power industry, including generation, transmission, distribution, and supply, as well as in academia.
TransCo highlighted Leynes’s outstanding contributions to the energy sector, citing awards such as the Outstanding Electrical Engineer of the Philippines award in 2014 from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), the Excellence Award for Publication and Rating from Nigeria, and the 2018 Thomasian Engineer Hall of Fame Award from his alma mater, the University of Santo Tomas (UST).
