Napocor projects in Palawan get priority status from DOE

MANILA, Philippines — National Power Corp.’s (Napocor) capacity addition and transmission system projects in Palawan were certified as energy projects of national significance (EPNS) by the Energy Investment Coordination Council (EICC) of the Department of Energy.

The certification was granted to the Palawan island service delivery improvement projects which consisted of capacity additions to eight existing Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) plants and the installation of new generating sets to 18 new areas with an aggregate capacity of 5.3 MW.

The existing areas included in the project package are the Agutaya Diesel Power Plant DPP, Araceli DPP, Balabac DPP, Cagayancillo DPP, Culion DPP, Cuyo DPP, Linapacan DPP and Rizal DPP.

Meanwhile, the new areas where power facilities will be established are located in the island or far-flung villages in the municipalities of Taytay,  Cuyo, Coron, Linapacan, Balabac, Araceli, Culion, Agutaya, El Nido, Busuanga, and San Vicente.

Another certificate on EPNS was granted to Napocor’s Palawan grid development projects which are  composed of nine transmission and substation projects. These include the Brooke’s Point to Bataraza transmission line (approximately 28 kms), Taytay to El Nido transmission line (approx. 60.9 kms), Alimanguhan Switching Station project, Alimanguhan Switching Station to San Vicente transmission line, Bataraza substation project, Brooke’s Point substation expansion project, and substations in El Nido, San Vicente and Taytay.

“These transmission line projects will complete the backbone transmission system of the province, and strengthen power reliability and stability,” said Napocor president and CEO Pio Benavidez.

“With the priority status from EICC – DOE, we hope to expedite the bidding, awarding and implementation process of the said projects,” Benavidez said.

Early this year, Napocor garnered the same certificate for its 23 projects in various power facilities in off-grid areas in the country.

EICC was created through Executive Order 30, which aims to harmonize and streamline the regulatory processes for critical energy projects.