Transco starts work on submarine cable linkup in Visayas

The National Transmission Corp. (Transco) has started the groundwork for the proposed underwater cable lines under the Small Island Submarine Interconnection Development (SISID) program in the Visayas.

Transco president Alan T. Ortiz led the first leg of engineering and environmental studies being made to determine the best route for the 138-kilovolt (kv) submarine cable lines.

"We would like to lay the submarine cable in areas where there are no coral reefs," Ortiz said.

Ortiz said he led the diving team to assess the existing 13.8-kv submarine cable built in the early 1990s which is now being operated and maintained by the Aklan Electric Cooperative (Akelco).

Transco had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Akelco for Phase 1 of SISID – the construction of a new 138-kv submarine cable linking a Transco load end and cable terminal station in Boracay island to the proposed Caticlan cable terminal station in mainland Panay. This project will reinforce Akelco’s existing 13.8-kv submarine cable in the area and provide for the projected increase in electricity demand in Boracay.

Under the MOU, Transco will install a 138-kv transmission submarine cable and provide Akelco with a 20-MVA transformer and power circuit breakers. Akelco, on the other hand, will assist Transco in securing favorable endorsements of the concerned local government units and the Regional Development Council and finding a suitable Transco substation site in Boracay.

Ortiz said SISID – which involves the interconnection of the islands of Boracay, Romblon, Tablas, Semirara and Mindoro to the rest of Luzon and Visayas grids – complements the government’s efforts to improve power supply reliability in the Visayas.

"The projects comprising Transco’s VISTA program (Visayas Island Transmission Augmentation) are in place. We are now focusing on the small islands and we are starting with Boracay, our country’s premiere tourist destination and major dollar earner," he said.

The SISID Program will be implemented in four phases. The first phase will be the laying of a 1.6-km, 138-kilovolt submarine cable linking Transco’s Caticlan substation to another substation to be constructed in Boracay island.

The Luzon-Mindoro interconnection project, SISID’s second phase, will be implemented to maximize the vast potential of Mindoro as the agricultural basket of the National Capital Region and its industrial potential in light of its mineral deposits.

The third phase is the Mindoro-Semirara interconnection project. To be constructed in tandem with a mine-mouth power plant, the project will provide the critical system link to optimize the retrieval of the island’s coal resource. This phase will essentially complete the Luzon-Visayas transmission loop.

SISID’s final phase is the Boracay-Tablas-Romblon interconnection project which is envisioned to further spur economic growth in these islands.