The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines reiterated its call for more power generation projects to avoid outages, especially in the Visayas.
There is need to implement “strategic developments in the generation side to fully optimize the benefits of the strengthened interconnection”, the NGCP said even as it cited the completion of the Cebu-Negros-Panay 230-kiloVolt (kV) Backbone Project Stage 3 (CNP3), which increased the transfer of power capacity from Panay to Negros to Cebu, and vice versa.
“The project’s completion was touted by some parties as the primary solution to the recent spate of power outages in Negros and Panay. But CNP3 is not the sole or primary solution to the woes of Panay consumers. Transmission and power generation go hand in hand,” the NGCP said in a statement.
“Sufficient power generation development, supported by reliable transmission, is the formula for optimized energy development. This will support the country’s push towards economic recovery.
“We have long advocated for a holistic approach to energy industry development. Generation and transmission must be developed together. One cannot be made to bear the whole burden of keeping the industry stable,” the NGCP stressed.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his State of the Nation Address July 22, said the Cebu-Negros-Panay backbone project “shall serve to stabilize the power situation in Western and Central Visayas, and avert recurrences of power outages experienced in the past.”
“Dahil sa proyektong ito, naiwasan ang blackouts sa Panay Island noong Abril hanggang Hunyo, sa kabila ng yellow at red alerts sa region. As energy projects get completed and new investments pour into the sector, we expect our nation’s power supply to increase at a steady pace to meet our growing demand in the next few years. Nonetheless, we are continuously diagnosing and urgently addressing power shortages, as well as the systemic causes of blackouts in unserved and underserved areas,” Marcos stressed.
The NGCP thanked Marcos for his continuing support. “The mention of the CNP 230kV backbone, the Mariveles-Hermosa-San Jose 500kV line, and the Mindanao-Visayas interconnection in the SONA is a clear sign that our hard work is recognized as having made a positive impact and is fully aligned with his vision for a strong economy.”
But the transmission service provider stressed that as it ensures the reliability of the country’s transmission network for a more resilient power industry, “we reiterate our call for a more coordinated, resource adequacy based, and holistic approach to energy planning, that considers the three main links to the energy supply chain – supply, bulk transmission, and retail distribution.” ||
