NOTE: THIS STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE BOHOL CHRONICLE’S SUNDAY PRINT EDITION.
The Cebu-Bohol Interconnection Project, the much-anticipated power redundancy project of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) sets its estimated time of completion by June 2023.
This was bared by NGCP officials in the virtual public hearing held with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), First District Cong. Edgar Chatto, Maribojoc officials led by Mayor Romy Manuta with officials and residents of Brgy. Punta Cruz, representatives of the Provincial Government and other related agencies on Friday morning.
The 230KV submarine cable will connect the 28-kilometer distance from Brgy. Langtad in Argao, Cebu to a cable landing site in Punta Cruz in Maribojoc.
The public hearing is a prerequisite to the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) needed to implement the project.
The DENR reported results of their environmental impact assessment that covered health impact, duration of the project, its location, land, air, water quality.
They said the results of their studies showed these matched and met the requirements for the project to be viable.
Meanwhile, the perception survey resulted in positive impacts expected by the community.
The DENR also presented mitigation and enhancement measures on the generation of solid waste, drainage systems condition, income loss for affected fishermen, among others.
The project, pushed by Chatto when he was governor with the Bohol Energy Development Advisory Group (BEDAG), and sustained under the present leadership of Gov. Art Yap and Vice Gov. Rene Relampagos, is seen to address power supply reliability in the province.
The current 138KV Leyte-Bohol submarine cable has a capacity of 90MW, which was expected to grow to an estimated 95MW this year. The project will prevent the overloading of the existing connection and provide an additional link to power sources outside the island.
The project also complements the objective of Bohol for the land-based power plant that will ensure reliable and affordable electricity.