The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is on track to activate P23.5 billion worth of transmission projects this year as it works to strengthen the country’s grid network further.
Breaking it down, NGCP assistant vice president Leonor Felipa Cynthia Alabanza said the grid operator is spending around P11 billion to finish projects in the Visayas; P4.5 billion on Mindanao projects; and another P8 billion on Luzon assets.
The Nabas-Caticlan-Boracay transmission line project and the Panay-Guimaras 138-kilovolt (kV) interconnection project in the Visayas will begin operations in 2026.
The Mindanao Substation Expansion 4 project and the Nasipit Substation Bus-in project are also on course for completion.
Main island Luzon, meanwhile, will welcome the Tuguegarao-Lal-lo (Magapit) 230-kV transmission line project and the North Luzon Substation upgrading project 1.
These projects add to the five facilities worth P7.2 billion completed between April and June this year.
Alabanza said the projects would beef up the grid system’s reliability, but noted that addressing the electricity supply woes is not on the NGCP’s hands.
‘The transmission system can only deliver the power that generators produce and have available. So it will help as long as we have enough supply,’ Alabanza said.
The official said the NGCP remains committed to injecting new investments into the power sector.
‘Every year, we have new projects that we begin-some in the pre-construction stage and others already under construction. As projects move from pre-construction to construction, another set of projects moves into the pre-construction stage as we complete and further develop the grid,’ she added.
Meanwhile, consumers will see a 23-percent drop in transmission rates in their electric bills this month.
The overall transmission rates in August fell to P1.525 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from July’s P1.7560 per kWh.
Last week, Manila Electric Co., the country’s biggest power distributor, announced a rate reduction of P0.0409 per kWh for September. The overall rate for a typical household now stands at P14.7424 per kWh, down from P14.7833 per kWh a month ago