TransCo, Kanematsu sign P149-M power linkup deal

The National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) signed yesterday a P149-million contract for the 69-kilovolt Panay-Boracay interconnection project with Japanese contractor Kanematsu Corp.

The project will help ensure adequate power supply in the country’s world-famous tourist destination of Boracay.

The contract was signed by TransCo president and CEO Alan T. Ortiz and Kanematsu’s Manila Branch general manager Toshio Satoh.

"Upon project completion in March 2006, Boracay will not only have adequate, reliable, and affordable electricity to meet its rapidly growing demand but we will also significantly help preserve Boracay’s environment by bringing in cleaner energy through our submarine cables," Ortiz said.

An estimated 12-15 megawatts (MW) of mostly diesel generators in the island can already be disposed of once the new line – with a carrying capacity of 40 MW – is in place. The existing 13.8-kv line has a maximum carrying capacity of only 8.5 MW. The submarine cable is expected to have a lifespan of 30 years.

Ortiz said with the implementation of the Panay-Boracay interconnection project, Boracay – which registered P8 billion in gross income in 2004 alone – will continue to prosper and enjoyed by more local and foreign tourists.

The project involves the laying of 1.6 kilometers of submarine cable connecting Akelco’s Caticlan substation in Panay and a 30- megavolt-ampere (MVA) substation at Balabag, Boracay Island.

The island’s peak demand currently stands at about 10 MW and is expected to increase to as high as 30 MW in the next five years especially with more investors pouring resources in the island. Four new hotels are under construction and are expected to be completed in 2007.

Boracay’s distibution utility, Akelco, has entered into a memorandum of agreement with TransCo in March this year for the implementation of the Panay-Boracay interconnection project.

Among others, the agreement stipulates the eventual transfer of the project components via a lease-purchase scheme to Akelco’s eventual ownership and control.

The Panay-Boracay interconnection project is the first phase of TransCo’s Small Island Submarine Interconnection Development (SISID) program which aims to establish a bi-directional electricity highway at the nation’s western corridor and eventually complete the Luzon –Visayas transmission loop.

As envisioned, the multi-phase transmission program will start with the Panay-Boracay, then Luzon-Mindoro; followed by the Mindoro-Semirara Island-Panay; and finally the Boracay-Tablas-Romblon transmission links.