ON OCTOBER 19, as a testament to its commitment to complete the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) and realize a one Philippine grid in 2020, NGCP simultaneously breaks ground on the project’s cable terminal stations in the Municipality of Santander, Cebu, and Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte.

The cable terminal stations serve as the landing points of the two 92-kilometer submarine cables which will carry around 450 megawatts (MW) of power from the Visayas and Mindanao, and vice versa.

“This is just the first in a long series of small achievements towards the successful completion of this project,” NGCP stated. “We are confident that the NGCP team will exhibit the commitment and skills needed to push the project and realize the interconnected transmission network within the committed timeframe,” added the company.

The MVIP, provisionally approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission last 2017, is considered the biggest power infrastructure project in the history of the country. Apart from the submarine cables and cable terminal stations, the P52 billion-project also entails the installation of 526 circuit-kilometers of overhead transmission lines, high-voltage direct current converter stations, and various upgrades to substations in both regions.

In May 2018, the Department of Energy also certified the MVIP as an Energy Project of National Significance, in order to streamline and expedite the needed documents for the construction and completion of the project.

“We call on our stakeholders, concerned government agencies and units, communities, consumer groups, and the public, to support us as we advance towards completing the MVIP, and implement a broader inter-island connectivity,” said NGCP.

NGCP is a Filipino-led, privately owned company in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s power grid, led by majority shareholders Henry Sy, Jr. and Robert Coyiuto, Jr.