THE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said more power plants are needed on the Zamboanga Peninsula while calling for the resolution of transmission line access issues in the area which are causing unstable supply there.
Between January and May, the region suffered from low voltage and power fluctuations on both the generation and distribution sides, the NGCP said.
It said in a statement Tuesday that it has “exhausted all short and mid-term remedial measures” to resolve these issues which were experienced by customers of Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative, Inc. (ZAMCELCO) and Western Mindanao Power Corporation (WMPC).
“We appeal to the government authorities in charge of long-term planning to adopt a more holistic approach to power development, so that the needs of the grid as a whole will be better coordinated, and power plant locations will be more strategic,” it said.
Among the stop-gap measures it implemented were the installation of capacitor banks at its Pitogo substation which serves ZAMCELCO and WMPC. It also conducted a transposition activity for the Aurora-Nagamin and Nagamin-Zamboanga 138-kilovolt lines to help mitigate unbalanced voltage in the area.
The NGCP also asked the National Power Corp. and the National Transmission Corp. to address the unresolved and unpaid right-of-way issues in the power lines which they previously operated.
Among these is the 350-kilometer Aurora-Naga Min-Zamboanga line, one of the longest radial lines in Mindanao.
“NGCP’s limited ability to access the old and long lines in the area contributes to line trippings and worse, causes power interruptions,” it said.
The company said it is not responsible for right-of-way concerns over power lines built prior to its takeover of the government’s transmission operations in 2009. — Adam J. Ang
