NGCP to build P3.1- B Antipolo substation

MANILA, Philippines - The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the operator of the country’s power transmission highway, is setting aside P3.1 billion to build a new substation in Antipolo.

In its application with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), NGCP said they intend to finish building the substation by 2016.

The substation, which will be located in Brgy. San Juan in Antipolo City, is part of NGCP’s 2012 Transmission Development Plan (TDP) – a comprehensive strategy to expand and improve the Philippine grid in the next 10 years.

The substation, which will have an initial installed capacity of two 750-megavolt ampere (MVA) transformers, will be expandable up to four 750 MVA transformers.

NGCP said the new Antipolo substation is necessary to prevent potential system congestion in the San Jose substation in Bulacan which carries the bulk of Metro Manila’s load.

The San Jose substation is the merging point of generation supply coming from the Masinloc and Sual coal-fired power plants from the north, and Quezon power plant and Pagbilao coal-fired power plant from the south.

“With the establishment of Antipolo substation, we can divert some of the load from San Jose substation thereby lowering its criticality level and vulnerability. It will give us operational flexibility that will allow us to maintain or shutdown San Jose substation without affecting power delivery to and from Metro Manila,” said NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza.

Under the plan, NGCP would build a transmission line and substation for the Antipolo project.

The transmission line component involves the construction of two 500-kilovolt transmission line extensions with a combined span of 17.5 kilometers connecting the Antipolo substation with the San Jose and Tabayas transmission lines.

The substation component of the project, meanwhile, involves the construction of the 230-kV switching facility beside the 115-kV substation in Antipolo of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).