Key transmission facility to power Yolanda-hit areas seen up this year

by Lenie Lectura – February 23, 2016

from Business Mirror

THE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) assured it would complete within the year a crucial transmission facility as part of its efforts to aid in the recovery of Eastern Visayas, which is still reeling from several strong typhoons.

The second line of the Ormoc-Babatngon 138-kilovolt (kV) line in Leyte involves the construction of an overhead transmission line spanning almost 80 kilometers, and installation of necessary upgrade equipment at the Ormoc and Babatngon Substations.

The said line will be the corridor that will transmit power from the geothermal plants in Leyte to Samar Island, further highlighting the importance of the project’s on-time completion. This line reinforcement will also increase the reliability of power transmission to Samar, which has no internal generation facility within the island, and is heavily dependent on the supply coming from Leyte.

“For the often typhoon-stricken Samar, a steady supply of electricity is important to ensure the island’s continuous growth and recovery from disasters. This is what we are trying to address by constructing the Ormoc-Babatngon 138-kV line. In addition, this project will also cater to the increasing demand for electricity in Tacloban after Typhoon Yolanda,” NGCP said.

Leyte II Electric Cooperative (Leyeco II), which distributes power to Tacloban, will be the main customer to benefit from this project.

NGCP is a privately owned corporation in charge of operating, maintaining and developing the country’s power grid. It transmits high-voltage electricity through “power superhighways” that include the interconnected system of transmission lines, towers, substations and related assets.

The consortium, which holds the 25-year concession contract to operate the country’s power transmission network, is comprised of Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp. led by Henry Sy Jr., Calaca High Power Corp. led by Robert Coyiuto Jr., and the State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC) as technical partner.