NGCP extends assistance to Mindanao coop for transmission line rerouting

MANILA, Philippines - The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the operator of the country’s  power transmission highway, is extending assistance to a cooperative in Mindanao for the rerouting of transmission lines.

NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said the project would help improve the overall quality and reliability of power delivery in the country, particularly in Mindanao.

Under the project, NGCP has tied up with Maguindanao Electric Cooperative Inc. (Magelco) for the rerouting project.

Magelco will construct a 69-kilovolt (kV) by-pass line from its Simuay Substation to NGCP’s Sultan Kudarat Substation in Maguindanao.

In a letter sent to NGCP, the cooperative said the transmission line project is needed to re-route the existing 69-kV line, which the cooperative is having difficulty maintaining because of unresolved right-of-way (ROW) issues with private landowners.

As a result, Magelco decided to construct a new transmission line to replace the existing line.

The cooperative has asked NGCP to lend its resources to help it push through with the project. The resources include aluminum conductor wires which span 2,500 meters, to be sourced from NGCP’s warehouses in its District 6 – Mindanao office located in South Cotabato, which also serves the provinces of North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, and Sarangani.

Magelco also asked for NGCP’s help in supplying the conductor wires to immediately re-route the 69-kV line, a line procured by the cooperative from the National Transmission Corp.

“NGCP welcomes the idea of lending its resources as long as it will be used for the overall improvement of the transmission and distribution grids. It is also one way of maintaining the quality of the electricity that we deliver to the public,” Alabanza said.

Magelco serves 18 municipalities and provinces located in the southwestern part of Mindanao.

NGCP, meanwhile, is a privately owned corporation in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s power grid.

It is a joint venture between State Grid Corp. of China and One Taipan Holdings of Henry Sy Jr., the eldest son of mall magnate Henry Sy.