NOTE: THIS STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE BOHOL CHRONICLE’S SUNDAY PRINT EDITION.
Boholano power consumers are closely monitoring the expected completion of the Cebu-Bohol Interconnection Project (CBIP) before Christmas this year.
The submarine cables linking the two provinces, once completed, will provide Bohol a “safety net” whenever the power from the Leyte geothermal plant which is also connected through submarine cables get interrupted for whatever technical glitz at the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP)
Gov. Aris Aumentado told the Chronicle yesterday the power linkage from Cebu is expected to be completed by November this year while he created a task force to make sure the right of way concerns of NGCP particularly in the Maribojoc uptown area will be addressed.
The slated completion of the Cebu Bohol power linkage will connect substations in Argao, Cebu, and Maribojoc, Bohol.
The 230-kilovolt line which has a maximum capacity of 1,200 megawatts is expected to help Bohol meet its growing power demand.
It was earlier announced that the CBIP will be part of the Visayas 230-kV looping interconnection.
The NGCP is currently working on a 230-kV line connecting Cebu and Negros and another line connecting Negros to Panay.
It also plans on establishing a second line between Leyte and Bohol also utilizing a 230-kV line which has more load capacity than the existing 138-kV line between the two provinces.
The expected completion of the Cebu-Bohol power link came in as timely as the Mindanao-Visayas interconnection project was recently energized.
NGCP said this interconnection is a landmark undertaking that will improve the power stability and reliability, not just in the Visayas, but in the entire country.
The Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) is a P52 billion power project.
An initial load of 22.5 MegaWatts (MW) was carried by the high-voltage submarine and overhead lines from Mindanao to Visayas during its energization on 30 April 2023. “We expect to gradually increase the MVIP’s transfer capacity to 50MW by mid-May, and 112MW by the end of the month, before energizing to its full transfer capacity of 450MW by the third quarter of this year,” the company explained.
The MVIP is a 184 circuit-kilometer (ckm) High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) submarine transmission line connecting the power grids of Mindanao and Visayas with a transfer capacity of 450MW expandable to as much as 900MW. The project also includes converter stations in both regions and more than 500ckm of overhead lines to facilitate the flow of electricity.
The MVIP will benefit consumers by providing them with a more reliable and sustainable power transmission service that will lessen the instances of power interruptions. It will also promote energy resource sharing, as excess power generated in one region can now be transmitted to the other.
“The completion of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project is a significant achievement for us and for the Philippines as a whole. This will not only improve the reliability of our transmission services but will lead to efficient energy utilization as one Philippine grid,” said NGCP.
Parts of the MVIP were completed in 2022, such as the Lala-Aurora 138kV Transmission Line, the 350kV Submarine Cable, and Cable Terminal Stations in Santander, Cebu, and Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte. NGCP expects to complete the remaining components of the project and ramp up the transfer capacity of the facility in the coming months.
“NGCP is committed to providing the Filipino people with a reliable transmission network which is the backbone of the nation’s development. The completion of the MVIP is a significant step towards achieving that goal,” NGCP stated.