The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) on Tuesday announced the resumption of stringing activities at the 500-kilovolt Hermosa-San Jose line with the lifting of a Supreme Court-issued temporary restraining order (TRO).
NGCP said it can now push ahead and complete the project critical to securing transmission services in Luzon following nine months of delay due to the imposition of the injunction.
The SC on 28 February this year but promulgated only on 8 April, said that the injunction imposed in July 2023 had been lifted.
“We are happy that the Supreme Court thoroughly studied the case and found no merit in the petitions filed against NGCP. This will enable us to complete the remaining portion of the HSJ which will better serve the bulk generation coming in from Bataan,” said NGCP.
A TRO had been issued against the expropriation of and construction on a portion of the HSJ owned by Phirst Park Homes Inc.
Upon receipt in July 2023, NGCP immediately stopped project-related activities along towers 170 to 178 of the HSJ line, stalling the ongoing stringing of the line’s remaining circuit from July 2023 to April 2024.
The NGCP said the HSJ was energized in May last year allowing the transmission of power generated from Bataan of only 2,000 MW or only a quarter of the full 8,000 MW capacity of lines 1 and 2 pending the completion of the unfinished portion of the line.
With the lifting of the TRO, NGCP already began stringing activities at the affected section of the line and completed Line 1 on 19 May, enabling 4,000 MW line capacity. Line 2 was completed in mid-July.
The HSJ project costing P17.3 billion had been certified as an energy project of national significance and its full completion at full capacity critical in accommodating additional power to the grid, preventing Luzon-wide interruptions.
Of the actual cost of the project, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) allowed NGCP to recover only P19 million or only 0.1 percent of the cost.
“NGCP is optimistic the ERC will act with appropriate haste on the recoveries applied for by NGCP, as these are long overdue,” the company said.
