TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA) -- Bohol will have a redundant power supply system by the end of this year.

This is seen to be realized by the last quarter of this year once the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) energizes the 230 kilovolt (KV) Cebu-Bohol Interconnection Project (CBIP), which is now in its final stages of implementation. 

During the recent NGCP media briefing here, NGCP officials reported the imminent completion of the CBIP, which will open up another power supply for Bohol. 

“The project is part of the P300 billion NGCP-funded projects between 2009 to 2022,” said NGCP Assistant Vice President and Visayas Systems Operations Head Christian B. Ereño.  

The project strings a back-up line that could bring in power via overhead towers from the Visayas Grid to Argao, Cebu, and then across the Bohol Strait via 30 kilometers of double-circuit submarine cables to the Maribojoc Bohol Cable Terminal Station. 

The submarine cable layout is currently 99.97 percent complete, with NGCP currently finalizing the road right-of-way acquisition and the expropriation proceedings for the project. 

After the submarine cables, the line resumes via overhead transmission (OHT) towers to Corella Substation (Corella SS), some 18 kilometers away. 

Of the 74 OHT towers that will span the remaining 18 kilometers to Corella SS, 28 have already been constructed, according to NGCP Assistant Vice President and Public Relations Head Atty. Cynthia Alabanza. 

Prior to the CBIP, Bohol relied most of its power requirements from the 230 KV supply from Leyte traversing the sea by submarine cables and a few from inland sources. 

As the Leyte source also gets most of its power from geothermal plants, this used to be an affordable power source until the Visayas Grid was put up, which rationalized the power sources into a common pool for the entire region. 

The disadvantage for Bohol using a single supply from Leyte was when inclement weather brought about by super typhoons toppled overhead transmission lines in Leyte, blanketing the whole of Bohol in total darkness for months. 

“That was also when the NGCP proposed the separate 230 KV CBIP to get Bohol its needed supply in case the Leyte-Bohol interconnection fails again,” explained Alabanza. 

With the redundant power supply allowing Bohol some 230 KV of standby power, the project will attract more investments here, said Bohol Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado. 

Aumentado and the Provincial Development Council have offered investment packages to potential investors, as proposed by the local investment board and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.  (RAHC/PIA7 Bohol)