The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is hopeful the legal impediment preventing Line 2 of the 500-kiloVolt Hermosa-San Jose (HSJ) transmission line in Bataan lifts and the system energized.
The NGCP said Line 1 has completed and already energized but needs Line 2 to become operational for the system to deliver the rated capacity. Line 2 is crucial for Line 1 to be fully functional.
To be sure, said Cynthia Alabanza, NGCP assistant vice president and head of public relations department, HSJ Line 1 capacity is sufficient to meet prevailing requirements.
“However, if we are not able to complete the second line, maybe by next year, its capacity will no longer be enough so we really need to complete” the project, Aalabanza said at the sidelines of inauguration ceremonies in Bacolod City on Monday.
According to the NGCP official, Line 1 was energized in May last year to accommodate power generation from Bataan.
The line has a transfer capacity of 2,000 megawatts (MW) or only a quarter of the full 8,000-MW capacity of the system due to the work stoppage created by the issuance of a temporary restraining order or TRO.
The NGCP said the TRO arose from the expropriation and construction on a portion of the HSJ line owned by Phirst Park Homes Inc. (PPHI) preventing the grid operator from doing project-related activities along towers 170 to 178 of the line, particularly the stringing of the line’s remaining circuit.
The NGCP also said it has repeatedly reached out to PPHI, owned by Century Properties, to settle the issue amicably.
NGCP had said it has valid permits and writs of possession but the PPHI continues to block its activities.
