NGCP restores damaged submarine line in Visayas

MANILA, Philippines — The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) has increased the reliability of power transmission services between the islands of Negros and Cebu with the completion of the restoration of the damaged Amlan-Samboan submarine cable.

NGCP said it has successfully energized the Amlan-Samboan 138-kilovolt (kV) transmission line 1 on Sunday.

According to  NGCP, the transmission line was damaged during dredging and re-channeling activities of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Amlan, Negros Oriental on June 15, 2021.

As a result, the capacity of NGCP’s underwater cable to transmit power between Negros and Cebu was halved from 180 megawatts (MW) to only 90 MW, limiting the flow of power between islands.

“The Amlan-Samboan 138-kV transmission is vital to the exchange of power within the Visayas grid, and gives Negros and Panay consumers access to power coming from Luzon, and other islands within the region,” NGCP said.

“The energization  of the transmission line  will ensure the full dispatch of Visayas grid-connected power plants, including renewable energy sources in Negros,” it said.

Last August, NGCP also announced the completion of the P307-million upgrading of the over 50-year-old San Jose-Angat line, boosting the reliability of power transmission services for the Luzon grid.

The upgrade includes a new third circuit spanning 18 kilometers and another fourth circuit of the same length.

NGCP is committed to invest approximately P440 billion in the next 13 years across 211 projects to support the country’s growing electricity demand and make its power backbone continuously reliable.

NGCP is a Filipino-led, privately owned company in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s power grid.

The company is led by majority shareholders and vice chairman of the board Henry Sy Jr. and co-vice chairman Robert Coyiuto Jr.

NGCP is the sole operating asset of publicly listed Synergy Grid and Development Philippines Inc., which held its follow-on offering in November last year in compliance with NGCP’s franchise undertakings.