BACOLOD, Philippines – An ambitious ₱52 billion Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is finally serving its purpose— to transmit power from Mindanao to Visayas and vice versa.
A 12-month, 20-megawatt (MW), power supply agreement between the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (NONECO) and the Gotianun-led Filinvest Development Corporation-Misamis Power Corporation (FDC Misamis) signed on August 22 in Bacolod City is a proof of MVIP’s immense mission—to transmit available, sustainable and affordable power supply between Mindanao and the Visayas.
Wilbe Bilbao, NONECO general manager, told Rappler on Wednesday, August 28, that he was glad to put their electric coop with 195,353 registered member-consumers into a historic power deal with FDC Misamis via a hybrid power connectivity highway—the MVIP.
NONECO is the first electric coop on Negros Island to import power from Mindanao.
Likewise, FDC Misamis, operator of a 3×135 MW circulating fluidized bed coal-fired power plant in Barangay Tambobong, Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, is also the first Mindanao-based generator to export power to Negros Island.
FDC Misamis started on August 26, supplying 40 to 45% of NONECO’s 51 MW monthly needs.
NONECO is currently serving nine localities in northern Negros Occidental that include the cities of San Carlos, Cadiz, Victorias Sagay and Escalante and the towns of EB Magalona, Toboso, Manapla and Calatrava.
“The decision to source power from Mindanao was influenced by the availability of excess capacity and the desire of FDC Misamis to take regulatory risks associated with Emergency Power Supply Agreements (EPSAs),” Bilbao said.
The formidable grid interconnection between Mindanao and Visayas also inspired NONECO to make a bold step in contracting power with FDC Misamis.
Frank Carbon, chief executive of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI), said the NONECO-FDC Misamis connection is a welcome development in terms of diversification in sourcing of electricity in Negros.
“This is a very good move on the part of NONECO. At least, we are not just reliant on power from Panay and Cebu only. We have the best alternative now,” Carbon said.
The grid agency, meanwhile, already expressed readiness to transmit any and all available power to and from Mindanao and Visayas.
In an official statement sent to Rappler on Tuesday, August 27, NGCP said: “While in-island generation dependency is still the ideal setup, NONECO’s power supply agreement with FDC Misamis will run through this world class facility.”
The NGCP’s MVIP was completed in the first quarter this year. It can transmit 450 MW of power, and expandable to another 450 MW if needed, or has a maximum capacity of 900 MW.
MVIP therefore is considered a landmark power transmission infrastructure project by the Sy-led NGCP purposely aimed at improving power stability and reliability across the country.
By end of third quarter of this year, it is expected to be fully operational with its first 450 MW initial capacity.
Envisioned during the 80s, but suffered lots of rejections, MVIP was revived in 2011, but was completed just in April this year.
Amid ups and downs during its establishment, still, NGCP weathered both man-made and natural calamities to keep true to its promise to providing the country a “world-class” power transmission highway.
Built and operated by Filipino engineers, MVIP is no ordinary power infrastructure project as it contains 184-circuit kilometers (ckm) of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) submarine transmission line connecting the grids of Mindanao and the Visayas.
Major parts of the MVIP included the Lala-Aurora 138 kilo volt (kV) transmission line, the 350 kV submarine cable, and cable terminal stations in Santander, Cebu, and Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte. – Rappler.com