The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said it has committed to invest Php440 billion in capital expenditures until 2033 to grow and strengthen its transmission network.
Based on the preliminary prospectus for its share sale, Synergy Grid and Development Philippines Inc. said NGCP will allot the said amount for the development of 211 projects nationwide. This forms part of the grid firm’s commitment “to continuously [invest] in the nationwide transmission network to drive future growth.”
Synergy Grid, NGCP’s holding firm, owns 40.2% of the grid operator.
Further, the investment will support the 6.23% annual average growth rate in terms of power demand from 2021-2025, 6.73% from 2026-2030, and 6.49% from 2031-2040 under the grid firm’s Transmission Development Plan (TDP).
Meanwhile, NGCP estimates peak demand to nearly double from a peak national demand of 15,282 megawatts (MW) in 2020 to 28,631MW by 2030, and almost quadruple to 53,569MW come 2040.
The TDP outlines the grid operator’s plans to develop and monitor the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao Grids.
“As contained in the [TDP] 2021-2040, NGCP is tasked to implement the stage-by-stage grid looping configurations for resiliency and reliability, implement additional submarine cable links between islands to allow power exchange, and implement new substations and capacity expansion of existing substations to ensure the adequacy and reliability of supply for the continuously increasing demand,” the grid firm said.
The Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) is NGCP’s biggest undertaking to date.
Originally certified as an Energy Project of National Significance in 2018, the MVIP was supposed to be completed by December 2020, but was first extended to this December due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the timeline was affected when it was discovered that some portions of its fiber-optic cable linking Dapitan City, Zamboanga Del Norte and Santander, Cebu were damaged.