Wheeling of generated capacities from power plants sited in the southern part of Luzon could be impeded if delays in the 500-kilovolt (kV) Tuy-Dasmarinas transmission line project of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) could not be avoided due to pending legal hurdles, primarily a resolution of a case at a regional trial court (RTC) in Batangas.

According to NGCP, the legal impediments “will most likely delay the completion of the Tuy-Dasmarinas project and will have an effect on transmission services. We are not only talking about the provinces of Cavite and Batangas, but the entire Luzon grid and the interconnected Visayas and Mindanao grids.”

It qualified that “any delay in the project’s implementation will also impede the entry of additional power supply from new power plants” – primarily those that are sited in Batangas.

Given strained supply for Luzon grid, bottlenecks in the injection of generated electricity in the grid is an unwanted development, hence, NGCP is appealing for urgent resolution of critical expropriation cases hamstringing the project.

“With the growing demand in Metro Manila and the development of Southern Luzon, Batangas has emerged as one of the generation hubs for large renewable energy plants such as solar and wind plants,” it stressed.

The transmission firm narrated that it lodged expropriation cases against E. M. Ramos and Sons, Inc. and several other defendants “who claim interest over the properties affected by 16 of the 135 towers to be constructed for the project.”

NGCP indicated that highly probable cause for the project’s delay would be the recall of the writ of possession (WOP) on one of the expropriation cases – even if three properties covering the sites of six towers had already been decided favorably way back in 2020.

The company expounded that on November 10 last year, the Batangas RTC “issued an order recalling the WOP and directing the relocation of one of the towers.”

A motion for reconsideration was filed by NGCP, arguing that “ordering the relocation of public infrastructure for which an expropriation case has been filed is beyond the powers of an expropriation court absent a finding of fraud, bad faith, or abuse of discretion.”

NGCP similarly conveyed that another respondent in the case - St. Francis Square Realty Corporation, pleaded for partial reconsideration on the relocation of another tower; but both cases are still pending for resolution.

The transmission company reiterated that the completion of the Tuy-Dasmarinas line will be paramount in ensuring the reliability of power supply to various parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila.

“The development of new substations and transmission facilities are essential to support the continuous power requirement of our fast growing economy. We have to remain ahead of the requirement of the system.  Otherwise, we may face power interruptions to customers in parts of Metro Manila, North, and South Luzon,” NGCP noted.

Presently, the system operator specified that it’s only the Calaca substation, which is located in the western part of Batangas, that has been supporting the transmission of at least 2,000 megawatts of generated electricity from power plants in Batangas – but its capacity is rather limited compared to the demand growth projected within South Luzon and Metro Manila.