THE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) expects the P4.016-billion Pagbilao 500-kiloVolt (kV) substation project to be completed in March 2020.
The grid operator said the substation project would not only address transmission issues in Quezon province but also accommodate incoming power generation. The latter includes the 420-megawatt Pagbilao Coal-Fired Power Plant Expansion, 500-MW San Buenaventura Power Coal-Fired Power Plant and the 600-MW Energy World Corp. Combined-Cycle Power Plant, among others.
“With over 1,500 MW of power coming into the grid once these plants are online, we need a new gateway of power in the Quezon province, which can fully accommodate all these,” an NGCP statement said. “The Pagbilao 500-kV Substation will help ease voltage and load issues of nearby substations like Tayabas and further enhance transmission of power not, only in Quezon province but in the entire Luzon grid, as well.”
Along with the construction of the new substation, the project will also involve the expansion of the existing Tayabas 500-kV substation. This expansion will address the problem of overloading of the Tayabas 500/230kV transformers and fault-level issues.
NGCP just completed a series of public consultations with the local government of Pagbilao and the communities to be affected by the project. These talks were initiated by NGCP to present the project, gain support from the communities and to address any issues the public may have, especially in terms of right-of-way acquisition and the possible effect of the project to the peoples’ livelihood.
“Should there be no further delays, the project is set to commence construction by the last quarter of the year,” it said.
The NGCP also appealed for the public’s support.
“We hope that with the cooperation of the LGU [local government unit] other related government agencies and host communities, we will be able to fast-track the project’s implementation and enable a stronger power-transmission backbone in Southern Luzon,” the company said.
The NGCP is a Filipino-led, privately owned company in charge of operating, maintaining and developing the country’s power grid, led by majority shareholders Henry Sy Jr. and Robert Coyiuto Jr.