LABRADOR – The president of the National Transmission Corporation (TransCo) underscored the need for the country to build a truly national power grid even as he called for the construction of new capacity plants to ensure that the pesky long daily blackouts of old do not return.

“It is our dream to have our national grid,” said TransCo president Dr. Alan Ortiz, speaking during the ceremonial switch-on of the P11 million newly-built 100 megavolt ampere power transformer for the power substation here that will serve the western and central parts of Pangasinan.

The envisioned national power grid, he said, will link Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao with each other through submarine cables and make it possible for one island to come to the aid of the other island or islands that may be deficient in power supply.

Clarifying that TransCo is only an electricity highway and not a distributor of electricity or a power generator, Ortiz stressed the need to create a network of power transmission lines underwater to link all major Philippine Islands.

At the same time, Ortiz revealed that based on an inventory of the existing power supply in the country, Luzon was found to have the biggest power surplus of 3,000 megawatts.

He said however the surplus will not last very long, and may be exhausted in three to five years.

“So, after that, we’ll have to start planning and preparing to build new capacity plants of whatever fuel—geothermal, coal, hydro and gas”, Ortiz told newsmen.

“I don’t think nuclear will ever be an option in our country,” he stressed.
Ortiz revealed the surplus in the Visayas is very thin but construction of two 100-megawatt capacity coal fired plants that will use the highest technology, clean coal, circularized fuel, is now on-going and would be in place by 2010.

The two power plants are being built by the Korean Electric Power Corporation (Kepco), the leading company in Korea which is government-owned.

He said they will have to rely on three or four power needs of Panay where there is no energy resource at all.

“We are expanding the transmission lines not four our selves but in order to respond to the increased demands for electricity in the Visayas,” he said.

In line with this, TransCo is doubling the capacity of the Cebu-Negros submarine cable line and the Negros-Panay submarine cable that is set for completion before the end of the year.

Ortiz said there is still seven percent power surplus in Mindanao but there is a need to put up new capacity plants there.

“On top of that, we need to connect Mindanao so that in the future it will be part of the national grid,” he said.

Ortiz said the 35-kilometer Leyte-Mindanao submarine cable is also set for completion by the end of the year. (PNA)