• CHERYL G. CRUZ
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said April 8 that the energization of the 230kV Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP) Backbone Project, worth P67.98 billion, will help resolve power outages that have been plaguing Negros and Panay, and have caused very serious economic setbacks for the region.
Marcos, who led the ceremonial energization of the CNP Backbone Project at the Bacolod substation of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines in Brgy. Mansilingan Monday morning, said the CNP will also address the surging energy demands in the area, and propel the socio-economic advancement of regions VI and VII to new heights.
“By enhancing connectivity and stability in the transmission network through CNP, we are not only addressing immediate power challenges in Negros and Panay, but also laying the foundation for a more sustainable and robust energy for the entire country,” the President said, stressing that “power outages are hindrance to progress.”
He encouraged private generators to invest in the Negros and Panay sub-grids so the region can meet energy demands and ensure self-sufficiency in the long run.
Opening the CNP transmission network “is a big step in making this more attractive to other private investors to come in,” he said.
He added that the captive solar power in Negros can now be transmitted. “The northern part of Negros Island has close to 500 megawatts that’s stranded. Hindi nagagamit. So, (with) this transmission line, we’ll make that available to wherever else it is needed.”
Mayor Alfredo Benitez, who also attended the ceremonial energization, said he hopes the completion of the 230kV CNP would mean less brownouts in Bacolod and surrounding areas.
He echoed the statement of Marcos that excess solar power in Negros can now be dispatched to other areas. “We know that in Negros, we have a lot of undispatched solar power. With the CNP backbone project, power from Luzon and Mindanao can now be brought here in Negros, and vice versa.”
NGCP president Anthony Almeda said the CNP strengthens the link between three major islands of the Visayas, and will provide a more reliable transfer of power to support the fast-growing economies of Negros, Cebu, and Panay.
The CNP is comprised of 670 transmission towers spanning 442 circuit kilometers of overhead lines, 98.9 circuit kilometers of submarine cables with 10 new substations, and the expansion of two existing major substations.
The CNP Backbone, which also includes the Negros-Panay Interconnection Project Line 2, is comprised of three stages, with the last one completed March 27 this year, and complements the existing Amlan-Samboan submarine cable currently used to connect Cebu and Negros islands, the NGCP said.
The first stage of the CNP project added a new 230kV transmission line from Bacolod to E.B Magalona, while the second stage upgraded the Cebu substation into a 230kV level, the NGCP added.
Marcos, meanwhile, urged stakeholders in the Visayas to identify suitable locations that will host new baseload generation plants, as well as renewable energy and energy storage systems.
This will bolster energy sufficiency and sustainability in Negros and Panay Islands,” said Marcos, who also led the aerial survey of the Bacolod-Gahit Transmission Line and site inspection of the Bacolod substation, along with NGCP executives and Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla.
The ceremonial energization was also simultaneously held at the NGCP’s Barotac Viejo substation in Iloilo, and at Magdugo substation in Cebu, and witnessed by concerned national and local government officials. | CGC
