NGCP completes P1.56-billion upgrade of San Jose substation

MANILA, Philippines - The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) completed yesterday the last phase of its P1.56-billion transformer upgrade of the San Jose substation in Bulacan.

NGCP president Henry Sy Jr. told reporters that this project will relieve the transmission congestion in Metro Manila.

The upgrading project was undertaken by China XD Group’s Xian Electric Engineering Co. Ltd., one of the biggest suppliers of power transformers in China which has similar projects in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sudan and Kenya.

Xian deputy general manager Zhang Yao Wu said the company will repair and maintain the substation and, barring any unforeseen events, the new equipment installed in the San Jose substation would last for 25 years or more.

The transformers in the San Jose substation bogged down a few months ago, causing a Luzon-wide blackout. The old transformer, which was supposed to have a lifespan of 25 years, gave in after only 10 years of usage by the former owner and operator of the transmission highway, the state-run National Transmission Corp. (TransCo).

“This time, we will assure that the performance of the new transformers will last for 25 years or more,” Wu said.

For his part, Sy said they would continue to pour in capital for the upgrading of TransCo’s facilities. NGCP took over the operations and maintenance of the country’s transmission network, which consists of 20,236 circuit kilometers (combined length of transmission and sub-transmission) and a total capacity of 24,607 mega-volt amperes, from the government on Jan. 15, 2009.

NGCP now consists of Sy’s One Taipan Holdings, the Coyiuto-ledCalaca High Power Corp. and State Chinese state firm Grid Corp. of China. The consortium won the bidding for the 25-year lease agreement of the country’s transmission highway for $3.95 billion.

Sy said along with their foreign partner State Grid Corp., they would make NGCP the best transmission utility in Southeast Asia.

“The company will continue to put in place more reliable substations not just in Luzon but throughout the country where NGCP facilities are located. The provision of better transmission services through a more realible power grid is the top priority of NGCP,” he emphasized.

The energized San Jose substation will now have a total capacity of 3,000 MVA from only 2,400 MVA, making it more reliable to deliver power to NGCP customers.

The last phase of the project was completed a month ahead of schedule. Three transformer banks were already energized in February, April and August this year. The dismantling of old transformers, replacement and energization were undertaken one at a time to ensure uninterrupted transmission services to grid customers.

With its four 600-MVA transfers already replaced with four new 750-MVA units, the centrally located substation in Luzon now has more capacity to receive and transmit bulk power to Luzon grid users. An additional units of 250-MVA power transformer is also available as spare.

This substation supplies 40 percent of the transmission load of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), which has more than four million customers in its franchise area in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.