President Marcos lauded the full energization of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) as this endeavor unifies the country's power system and opens socioeconomic opportunities in the two islands.

Marcos said this as he led the simultaneous ceremonial energization of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project in Malacañan on Friday, Jan. 26.

In his speech, the President said the project, spearheaded by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) would significantly enhance the stability and reliability of the country’s power supply by enabling the sharing of power resources among the three major Islands.

"Indeed, this interconnection will unlock enormous socioeconomic development potential for both Visayas and Mindanao," he said.

"The realization of our One Nation, One Grid aspiration is definitely a crucial turning point for this country in ensuring reliable power at all times," he added.

With this, President Marcos acknowledged the NGCP's "immense" responsibility and role in maintaining the Philippine grid's stability, including ensuring the completion of critical interconnection projects and undertaking other necessary activities to promote a safe and reliable grid operation.

The President said he was looking forward to the promised completion of the 230-kilovolt Cebu-Negros-Panay Backbone Project by March this year, and the Hermosa-San Jose 500-kilovolt transmission lines next month.

"We realize these are daunting tasks but I call on you to faithfully fulfill these obligations which are so necessary for the progress of our country," Marcos said.

"Let me reiterate the need for greater responsibility, transparency, and accountability among key players in our power sector, with NGCP as the singular operator of our country's united power grid," he added.

Marcos said the government will support and cooperate with the NGCP to ensure the timely completion of all significant transmission projects.

The P52-billion MVIP connects the Mindanao and Visayas grids via a 184 circuit-kilometer High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) submarine transmission line, which runs from Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte to Santander, Cebu and includes 526 circuit-kilometers overhead lines.

The project has been designed to initially carry 450 megawatts (MW) of electricity, with the capacity to expand to 900MW to meet future demands.

According to the NGCP, an initial load of 22.5MW was successfully transmitted from Mindanao to Visayas on April 30, 2023. The transmission load was gradually increased in the following months, reaching the full capacity of 450MW.

The commercial energization of the MVIP is anticipated to improve power supply stability and reliability across the country, reduce power interruptions, create a more sustainable energy supply, and positively impact economic growth while spurring development in the regions.

The interconnection was conceptualized as early as the 1980s but was abandoned by the government due to challenges in implementation. It was only in 2011, with NGCP as a private transmission concessionaire, that studies were revived for its feasibility.