By Myrna M. Velasco
Grid reinforcement along Bataan route has been sorted out with a P3.3-billion project – fortifying the transmission of power capacity then that’s traversing that path.
Transmission firm National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) noted that the Hermosa-Bataan combined cycle power plant line-3, the facility’s substation bay 1 and associated equipment had been energized early part of March.
The company said the project’s concretization had been aimed at “strengthening power transmission and enabling the dispatch of the full capacity of existing and incoming generating plants.”
The project components completed, NGCP further emphasized, had been part of the 230-kilovolt (kV) grid reinforcement undertaking along the Bataan power transmission track.
It has to be noted that several power plants are sited in that area – including the Limay thermal plant of Panasia Energy, Inc., the Limay coal plants of San Miguel as well as the Mariveles coal-fired generating assets of Ayala and the Aboitiz groups.
NGCP expounded that the transmission facility would be able to accommodate “the connection of the 600MW coal-fired power plant in Limay. Bataan,” referring in particular to the four-unit plant of the San Miguel group.
The project had been part of the 29 list of projects submitted by NGCP to the Department of Energy (DOE) that were granted with certifications as “energy projects of national significance.”
The transmission firm said it has been pacing for anticipated load growth relative to forecasts of electricity demand expansion in Luzon grid due to the multiplicity of infrastructure projects being pursued as well as the burgeoning growth of several sectors in the economy.
“With the continuous load growth to service the rising demand for power in Luzon, particularly in Bataan and the nearby province of Pampanga, there is a need to increase the capacity of the existing 230kV corridor to improve transmission services in the area,” NGCP said.
The completed venture was also part of the N-1 contingency booster of the country’s biggest power grid – or that condition wherein it can thwart power system interruption even if other components of the system will bog down.
NGCP indicated “this project will help address the low voltage concerns in Luzon, if any, and improve the quality of power transmitted to distribution utilities, industries and businesses which we serve in the area.”