ILOILO City – The completion of the third stage of the Cebu-Negros-Panay backbone project (CNP3) by March 2024 is seen to prevent prolonged power blackouts in Panay Island, according to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
This assurance was given during an emergency meeting called by Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. on Thursday morning. Attendees included Department of Energy (DOE) secretary Raphael Perpetuo Lotilla, DOE undersecretary Sharon Garin, Iloilo City’s Mayor Jerry Treñas, Bacolod City’s Mayor Albee Benitez, Antique’s Gov. Rhodora Cadiao, and Aklan’s Gov. Joen Miraflores, among others.
CNP3’s completion would enable power supply from Cebu to augment Panay Island’s needs in case local power plants fail.
This infrastructure aims to prevent “isolation” incidents like the one on Jan. 2nd, when Panay Island was cut off from the grid due to tripping incidents at local power plants.
The project involves constructing a 238-kilometer long circuit, 230kV capacity transmission line linking Cebu, Negros and Panay islands.
This includes expansions at the Barotac Viejo substation, the E.B. Magalona cable terminal station, and the Bacolod substation.
The third phase specifically entails linking Negros and Cebu with an overhead line from Bacolod City to San Carlos City, and then a submarine cable to Toledo City, Cebu.
Lotilla also instructed NGCP to improve protocols and protection relays to ensure other power plants and transmission lines remain unaffected in case of any tripping incidents.
The meeting also focused on NGCP’s compliance with five directives issued by the DOE in April 2023 following a three-day power blackout in Panay Island. These directives included ensuring transparency to stakeholders, synchronizing protection relays, expediting the approval of ancillary services agreements, monitoring the grid for variable energy sources, and completing phase 3 of the CNP project.
Furthermore, suggestions were made about increasing power plant capacity in Panay Island as a backup measure to handle any future power plant failures./PN
