NGCP’s Negros-Panay subsea cable completion seen by June

MANILA, Philippines — Chinese cable producer ZTT Submarine Cable & System is set to complete next month the installation of a subsea cable for the Negros-Panay interconnector project of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

ZTT said the delivery and execution to lay down the subsea cable of the 230-kilovolt (kV) Negros-Panay interconnector project is on time and in accordance with the contract schedule.

“ZTT is located in Nantong City, close to Shanghai, where the Omicron outbreaks are now. ZTT’s factory production and operation have not been affected since COVID outbroke in early 2020,” the cable producer said.

The company said it has completed the factory acceptance test and cable load out of 60 kilometers of 230-kV subsea cable for the Negros-Panay interconnector project.

In August last year, ZTT bagged the engineering, procurement, commissioning, and installation (EPCI) contract for the Negros-Panay interconnection project with NGCP.

The contract covers the delivery of marine survey, design, supply, and lay-off of three submarine XLPE cables for the interconnection project.

ZTT will commission the whole cable system – which includes associated accessories such as load prediction systems and other equipment – from Panay Island to Negros Island.

The Chinese company said this is its first subsea cable contract in the Philippines.

The interconnector is a three-stage project developed by the NGCP, which aims to connect the islands of Cebu, Negros, and Panay with one another, strengthening the overall Philippines power transmission network.

Stage one presents the submarine cable component, which increases the transfer capacity of the existing corridor between Negros and Panay islands.

Stages two and three of the Cebu-Negros-Panay interconnection project is to establish a 230-kV backbone to accommodate the transmission of excess power from Panay and Negros towards the rest of Visayas.

Stage two and three of the project have an estimated project cost of P47.8 billion.

The entire project is a part of NGCP’s goal to establish One Grid Philippines, which will unify all three grids.