The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) is starting the construction of the P52-billion project connecting the Visayas and Mindanao power grids.
The the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) is currently in the works and is targeted for completion in December 2020. The Mindanao will be linked to the already connected Luzon-Visayas Grid.
The project is projected to strengthen the country’s transmission and boost employment opportunities for host communities.
“This is the largest transmission undertaking in the country’s history. The benefits to the public will come not just when the facility is energized and begins to facilitate power exchange across the three main island groups, but will begin encouraging economic activity in remote areas as soon as construction begins this year,” the grid operator said.
The construction of the project will run in locations of Cebu, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, and Lanao del Norte in Mindanao, creating job opportunities in those areas.
NGCP noted that over 200 jobs will be open for employment in the substation and transmission line portions of the projects. Civil and electrical engineers, timekeepers, safety officers and nurses, to laborers and skilled workers like carpenters, welders, masons, warehousemen, and electricians will be needed for this project.
Local residents will be given priority for the available positions, if they are fit and qualified.
The interconnection of the Visayas and Mindanao power grids by 2020 will boost the reliability of the power grid in the face of calamities, NGCP said.
The project also fulfills the country’s commitments to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which envisions to be an economic community in the next few years.
Only Luzon and Visayas are interconnected while Mindanao is isolated. The interconnection between Luzon and Visayas allows both grids to get supply from each other in times of supply shortage.
Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) gave NGCP the go signal last year to continue with the interconnection project, which was conceptualized by the government in the 1980s but was delayed until NGCP took over the transmission business.
NGCP is a Filipino-led, privately owned company in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s power grid, led by majority shareholders Henry Sy, Jr. and Robert Coyiuto, Jr.
