The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approved the petition of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) for the construction of its Pagbilao EHV Substation to allow the connection of incoming power plants in Quezon province with a total capacity of 2,720MW.
The approval of the project will address the overloading of the Tayabas 500/230 kV transformers and the fault level issue at Tayabas 230 kV Substation.
The Province of Quezon hosts two of the major power plants in the Luzon Grid, the 735 MW Pagbilao and 460 MW Quezon Power which are both coal fired. These two are connected to the Tayabas 2,400 MVA 230/500 Substation that is linked to 500 kV backbone stretches to Dasmariñas Substation in Cavite which serves as a drawdown substation for the loads in the south of Metro Manila. This Tayabas Substation is also connected to San Jose Substation in Bulacan that completes the link between the north and south 500 kV corridors. The southern portion of the 500 kV transmission backbone stretches from Tayabas, Quezon to Naga, Camarines Sur.
The Pagbilao EHV Substation project cost is estimated at PhP3.6 Billion and will allow the connection of these four (4) incoming new capacities or power generation plants: (1) 420 MW Pagbilao Coal-Fired Power Plant (CFPP) Expansion; 2) 500 MW San Buenaventura Power Ltd. Co. (SBPL); 3) 3 x 200 MW Energy World Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Power Plant; and 4) 1200 MW Atimonan Coal-Fired Power Plant.
The ERC’s approval of the Pagbilao EHV Substation entailed certain conditions, as follows: (1) The proposed project shall be subject to optimization based on its actual need and/or implementation under the Performance Based Rate (PBR) system to determine the extent of the value that will be included in the rate base of NGCP; (2) NGCP to conduct competitive bidding for the purchase of major materials in the implementation of the proposed projects; and (3) NGCP to pay the corresponding permit fee required.
“By and large, the Pagbilao EHV Substation will be beneficial in terms of ensuring the quality, reliability, and integrity of the Luzon Grid. The approval of the NGCP’s Pagbilao EHV Substation will enable it to adequately serve the needs and demands of generation companies, distribution utilities and suppliers requiring transmission service and ancillary services through the transmission system,” ERC Chairman and CEO Jose Vicente B. Salazar stated.