Thursday, August 20, 2009 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
THE National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is implementing a 138-kilovolt transmission line and sub-station project worth P1 billion in Zamboanga City.
NGCP Mindanao Projects Division head Peter Jubas and NGCP consultant Engineer Ruben Conti met last Tuesday with Mayor Celso Lobregat and discussed plans for the immediate implementation of the project through a joint venture of the AER Construction and Development Company Inc. and ALRAF Construction and Enterprises.
Jubas said among the concerns tackled were the acquisition of road right-of-ways for the passage of transmission lines.
Jubas said the supply and delivery of transmission line materials is one hundred percent complete, and what is being awaited is the construction of transmission lines from Sangali in the east coast to Pitogo in the west coast.
He said the proposed transmission line reinforcement between Sangali and Pitogo aims to provide or extend reliable bulk power services in Western Mindanao.
It is also intended to remedy operational problems such as line outages and at the same time provide for a projected increase in power demand in the area.
The project covers 32 kilometers of transmission lines strung along 225 steel towers, according to Jubas.
“This will really improve the transmission of power from Sangali to Zamboanga City, and this will also address the increasing demand of power in Zamboanga,” Jubas said.
Conti said the trickledown effects would be the hiring of local people to undertake the project and power availability, reliability, and quality.
Conti said the project is intended to answer the power demand of Zamboanga City within the next 10 to 15 years.
“The load of Zamboanga in terms of megawatt and megawatt-hours is growing by leaps and bounds so we, the power utility industry, have to meet this demand; this is why we are investing over one billion pesos,” Conti said.
He stressed that the power demand of Zamboanga City is quite large, equivalent to the demand of the rest of the region, and that it is growing very fast.
Based on NGCP records, consumption through power Transmitter I is 37.69 megawatts while power Transformer II consumption is pegged at 42.3 megawatts.
Lobregat welcomed the project, saying it is proof that Zamboanga City is moving forward by leaps and bounds.
He added the project will complement the increasing power demand in the city caused by putting up of numerous investments here. (Bong Garcia)
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