Transco seeks ERC permission to deliver add’l power to Visayas

The National Transmission Corp. (Transco) is seeking the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) approval to bring ancillary power to Visayas as part of the short-term measures of the government on the impending power shortage in the province.

Transco president and CEO Alan T. Ortiz said they have already submitted their application with the ERC two months ago.

"We are just awaiting the approval of the commission," the Transco chief said.

Ortiz said this move is part of the overall effort of the government led by the Department of Energy and its attached agencies and the private sector to fill up the gap in the power requirement of the Visayas area.

"As we all know the National Power Corp. (Napocor) under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) cannot contract new power. We need to do something fast to avoid shortage of power in the Visayas," he said.

A Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP) power summit, he said, will be conducted by the DOE, Transco, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) and private power distributors tomorrow (Dec. 13) to come up with short-term and medium-term measures until a new generation capacity is in place.

"Before we have talked about piece-meal solutions. This time, we will try to be more coordinated for the transition period," he said.

He said this effort will also complement the need to link-up the transmission grids in preparation for the start of the commercial operation of the country’s wholesale electricity sport market (WESM) in January 2006.

"We have to be ready for it (WESM)," the Transco official said.

It was feared that Visayas would be encountering power outages if one of the major sources of its electricity may shut down operation.

Panay Power Corp. has threatened to halt its operations due to the continuing financial losses.

The CNP project aims to double the load of the transmission lines from 100 MW to 200 MW among the three Visayas islands and optimize the use of indigenous power from the geothermal power plants in Leyte.

The Cebu-Negros component of the CNP project entails the installation of a 109-kilometer, 138 kV overhead transmission line and a 17.8-kilometer submarine cable to connect TransCo’s Santander substation in Cebu and Amlan substation in Negros Oriental as part of the CNP grid.

The CNP project’s Negros-Panay component would likewise double the transfer capacity, from 100 MW to 200 MW, of the 18.8-kilometer 1st submarine cable system in Asia.