The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is set to convene a series of hearings on the approval of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines’ (NGCP) proposed 230-kiloVolt (kV) Lapu-Lapu substation project.
According to a BusinessMirror report, the initial hearing will commence on February 26 and succeeding hearings will be held on the 5th, 12th, and 19th of March.
The regulatory body expressed in the report that these hearings will not only determine NGCP’s compliance with the jurisdictional requirements, expository presentation, pretrial conference, and presentation of evidence but will also allow interested parties to file their verified petitions to intervene.
The 138-kV Cebu-Mandaue-Lapu-Lapu transmission corridor served as the province’s bulk power delivery system. However, due to the significant increase in energy consumption in Mactan Island because of the operation and construction of large industries and establishments, the projected load growth of Mactan Island is significantly higher compared to the 2011 forecast.
As this would cause the 138-kV submarine cable to overload, the NGCP proposed to establish the 230-kV transmission line capacity.
“If the project will not be undertaken, a system collapse is imminent and may be experienced due to lack of N-1 provision. Also, the island of Mactan will be deprived of additional capacity necessary for its projected demand, thereby retarding economic growth,” the NGCP stated.
The NGCP filed the application in December last year with prayer for issuance of provisional authority.
“The proposed project is intended to fully support the government’s policy to ensure the quality, reliability, security, and affordability of the supply of electric power by accommodating the increasing demand for electricity in the island of Mactan; provide another corridor of power equivalent to an N-1 provision and increase import capacity of power from Cebu, and improve the reliability of the electrical system of the Visayas grid,” the firm added.
Per NGCP’s proposal, the estimated implementation period of the project is 55 months.
