HVDC Revisited

This is a follow up article on the HVDC (Industrialization of Catanduanes) below , published in mid-2002 by the CT.

In 2004 , the newly formed Transco (2001-2002) published in their website something that should be of great interest to all Catandunganons. Transco is the transmission section of the old Napocor which is now being privatized. Privatization would allow for better management of our electrical industry but as some recent news articles indicate, there are some 'growing pains' in management and implementation. Not to worry. They are fixable challenges.

You may now read about the projected HVDC or Small Island Internconnection Project at the Transco website which SHOWS CATANDUANES AS BEING LINED UP TO GET ITS OWN CONNECTION FROM THE MAINLAND. The project is in its early stages. Feasibility studies are in progress. Project is not funded yet. But God willing, and the good folks at Transco has us slotted for the year 2010 to perhaps get things rolling, we will see this dream come to reality sooner than we expected.

Please go to : http://www.transco.ph/tdp.asp

HVDC Revisited

This is a continuation of an effort now seemingly gaining some support from ‘friends and family’ at this point. Hopefully it gains enough support from the public and respective government agencies so that soon this option for a more stable, sufficient and affordable power which is indeed at our doorstep and very practical , could be given some very serious attention and finally be made a REALITY.

For those who did not get to read my first letter on the HVDC please go to the archives section of the October 1st issue of the Tribune and click on letters. It will help make sense of this letter.

Going over the concept of the HVDC quickly: It stands for High Voltage Direct Current. It is a system now widely used around the world including several completed, in-progress and proposed projects in the Philippines. This system allows for the efficient transmission of bulk power over long distances without a lot of power loss as compared to the usual High Voltage AC that uses transformers at several points. It also finds a favorable use in transmissions where transmission lines will have to traverse large bodies of water such as inter-island connections where cables are run on the ocean floor. HVDC links tap into existing high voltage AC grids. High voltage AC is converted into high voltage DC using converters at the source end, transmitted for as far as several hundred kilometers using special DC cables, then to get properly distributed at the other end, power is converted back into High Voltage AC. End users utilize the stepped down voltages of 440AC, 220VAC or 120VAC depending on your locality.

Why HVDC and not hydro power or diesel generators for our power source? There are some very good reasons. While hydro power plants for power generation are efficient and cost effective once completed, in comparison the HVDC is very competitive in practicality and economics. Hydro plants require dams to be built, generators to be purchased and maintained. HVDC’s however use converter stations, DC cables, huge switching devices and that’s it. HVDC’s do not generate its own power, it simply converts then transmits huge power more efficiently. And why not diesel generators? Again in time these machines break down plus fossil fuels are expensive. And the big bonus for HVDC systems: they can transfer as much as 3500MW of power per single unit. If we can get 50MW of power for the island, it will be a very good start. HVDC’s are also upgradable to higher MW capabilities. Again HVDC’s have NO MOVING PARTS save for perhaps some cooling pumps,motors and fans. HVDC’s require that we be tied up to the national high voltage grid. One more goodie: When transmission cables are laid at the bottom of the ocean, communication cables could be laid at the same time.

As mentioned above there are several projects in the Philippines that have either been completed, in-progress or on the drawing board that utilizes HVDC either to augment existing power generation facilities or become the main source of power.

INTERCONNECTION PROJECTS:

Leyte-Luzon HVDC: The power source is the Leyte Geothermal Plants in the province of Leyte which generates an aggregate 700MW of power. The province uses 115MW while the excess power is serviced to the Leyte-Luzon HVDC and the Leyte-Cebu HVDC which transmits 385MW and 200MW respectively. Leyte-Luzon HVDC has a 450km DC transmission line which includes 23km of submarine cables. The DC transmission lines run from Leyte to Naga in Camarines Sur. Converter stations are in Ormoc, Leyte and Naga, Camarines Sur. The rest of the transmission lines could be AC and it goes all the way to the metropolitan Manila area. This project was commissioned in 1998.

Leyte-Cebu HVDC: The project was commissioned in 1997. Power transfer capacity is 200MW. Cablerun is submarine or underwater type and around 32km long. It runs from the geothermals in Leyte to the Cebu loadcenters.

Leyte-Samar HVDC: Project commissioned in 1987. Power transfer capacity 200MW. Cablerun is 130km. An existing bridge between Leyte and Samar was utilized to run the cables across the water. The original project used wooden poles to run the aerial cablerun over land.

Negros-Panay HVDC: Project commissioned in 1990. Power source is the geothermal plant in Negros. Power transfer capacity is 100MW. Cablerun is a total of 167km, 18km of which is underwater at a maximum depth of 60 meters.

Negros-Cebu HVDC: Project commissioned in 1993. Cablerun is 18km underwater and 109km overhead. Power transfer capacity is 100MW.

Leyte-Bohol HVDC: Project commissioned in 2000. Phase II in 2002. Cablerun is 17km underwater and 157km overhead or aerial. Transfer capacity is 100MW. This is supposedly the final phase of the Cebu-Negros-Panay-Leyte-Samar-Bohol or CNPLSB grid.

There is still the Leyte-Mindanao HVDC project which is the final phase for connecting mainland Mindanao to the Luzon and Visayas grids above.

POLICIES, PROGRAMS, KEY PROJECT PLAYERS AND ‘BASIC TOOLS’:

EPIRA or Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.
This Act made possible the deregulation of the power industry and the eventual privatization of state-owned enterprises. The National Transmission Corporation (TRANSCO) was created to handle high voltage transmission concerns separate from power generation.

TRANSCO Roles and Responsibilities states, ‘The Act became effective June 26, 2001 and established the necessary legal framework to enable full restructuring and privatization of the power industry. Under the new structure, the electricity industry in the Philippines was officially segregated for regulatory purposes into the separate functional areas of Generation, Transmission, Distribution and Supply as a regulated natural monopoly. As part of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act a requirement was placed on Transco to prepare a TDP or Transmission Development Plan.’

TDP’s map out transmission projects for the country over 10 year periods. TDP is prepared annually and could be amended to incorporate the Energy Regulatory Commission or ERC rulings on proposed projects or investment plans.


Part of the Introduction section of the TDP of 2003 states, ‘The Plan sets out the manner in which TRANSCO aims to promote reliable, adequate,secure and stable service for ALL USERS of the nationwide electricity transmission system.’

The TDP of 2003 further elaborates on TRANSCO’s duties under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, ‘The key functions and responsibilities of TRANSCO or its concessionaire as defined in the EPIRA include:
-to provide open and NON-DISCRIMINATORY access to its system to ALL ELECTRICITY USERS
-to ensure and maintain the reliability,ADEQUACY,security,stability and integrity of the Grid
-to prepare the TDP in consultation with Electric Power Industry Participants
-to improve and EXPAND its transmission facilities consistent with the TDP and the Grid Code.’

Independent Power Producers or IPP’s:
These guys help make a lot of dreams become reality. From the United States, Europe and Asia come these players. They plan, finance, build. Some offer engineering services, others offer project management and the rest are either taking care of financing and some do whole projects. They strike up partnerships among each other, take on a major project and make things happen faster than if it had been left solely to government. This is the beauty of privatization.

From the geothermals of Leyte to the gas fired multimegawatt plants in Batangas, they are all coming together, thanks to this ‘invention’ called privatization. With foreign investment and participation, the whole industry is being sold and privatized to have more efficiently delivered and managed power.

Build Operate Transfer (BOT), Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT), Build Own Operate (BOO), Etc:

Here are a few examples:

Quezon Power Facility, Mauban, Quezon. This is a 470MW, coal fired plant in operation since July 2000. The first Build Own Operate power project of the Philippines, Quezon Power came to be through the partnership of foreign players. Financing was $809M in debt and equity including political risk guarantees of $405M from the US Import-Export Bank. The project issued $215M of SEC registered bonds.

Leyte Geothermal Optimization Project: Built in the framework of Build Own Operate Transfer scheme. Owned and operated by Ormat Leyte Co Ltd/ Ormat, USA. Ten years down the road, it gets turned over to PNOC-EDC, Philippines.

Upper Tongonan Geothermal, Leyte: Joint project between Ormat Industries and CalEnergy, both US companies. ‘The exhaust from four 20MW steam sets is used to drive six 7MW Ormat binary units. Part of distribution is to the island of Cebu 65 km west of Leyte via an UNDERWATER cable (HVDC). Ormat will Own and Operate the project for 10 years after which time ownership will transfer to the Philippine government.’

Casecnan HydroElectric, Nueva Ecija: Combined irrigation and hydroelectric power project. Began operation in December 2001. Capacity 150MW. Project scheme is Build Operate Transfer. CalEnergy will Own Operate for 20 years. Financing was with the sale to institutional buyers of $396M Senior Secured notes and Bonds and $75 million Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes.

Above are just a few of the many power generation facilities now in existence in the country. More are planned for completion. The geothermals in Leyte and Negros will increase in number. And so will the gas fired plants. Thanks to the newly built gas pipeline from the Malampaya gas field, near Palawan that now supplies fuel to the 3 huge gas fired power plants in Batangas. More will be built. Old plants running on coal or diesel fuel are going to get upgrades or converted into more efficient gas fired units. These will not happen overnight. But with IPP’s coming from the U.S. and Asia, these projects are soon going to be realities.

Strategis of Canada, has in one of its 1997 publications, a list that shows most of the existing power generating plants of the Philippines. I counted 27 completed, awarded for construction, under public bidding power projects under the BOT scheme, 7 BTO’s and more.

The same publication shows a list of a dozen IPP’s which does not show most of the recent bigger international players.

Our challenge:
This writer does not claim to have direct knowledge on the method , logic or rationale used by our national planners as far as who or what particular province or island gets connected to the national grid first. One thing is clear at this point so far. Catanduanes is NOT part of anyone’s plan to become part of the national high voltage grid yet. We are however slated to get smaller MW generators that are diesel driven or perhaps some wobbly wind powered generators.

Helllooo!!! As we bickered, argued and lost sleep over our own power woes on the island, back in October of last year, IPP First Gas Power Corporation was begging Transco to BOOST TRANSMISSION ACCESS so it could sell its excess power that were coming out of its ears! They were overproducing as we skimped and scratched for power on the island. Now, if we were hooked up to the main grid, our present problem would have been history. As shown above, the TDP is prepared annually and it is open to amendments as expansions, upgrades to the grid that are seen fit by the ERC. An example of such amendment is the recent approval to upgrade the Negros-Cebu and Negros-Panay HVDC Interconnections. I mean we do not even have to spend our own money folks. We allow others to spend their money on us. It is the old OPM. Other People’s Money is used for our benefit.

Once the 3 main islands of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao are interconnected, any end user tied up to this main grid will reap a major benefit that others who are separate from it, will not get. This ladies and gentlemen will separate those provinces that will prosper and those that will remain in the dark ages, be continually pestered by power outages, high power rates and insufficient power. By being tied up to the main grid, power shortages in one area could be quickly fixed by excess power from other areas. The system becomes very flexible. This will get better as more generating plants are added to the grid and more interconnections such as the ‘First Catanduanes HVDC Link’ comes into play. If we stay mum and satisfied with status quo, we are doomed to our present economic status or worse. Industrialization on The Rock is stuck. We are dead ducks. No leader in his right mind will accept this however, granted that we are surrounded with opportunities as shown above.

What needs to happen:
We need to become part of The Main or National Grid. We need to set this as OUR goal, decide that come hell or high water we will do what needs to be done to go after this dream. Once we have set our sights on it, we need to put in motion the brainpower available on The Rock. We put together local management teams that will handle different areas such as engineering, planning, financing. Then we coordinate with those folks who have been-there-done-that all over the country. We get in touch with the IPP’s of the world, international management teams actively participating in the Philippines. We need men and women who are driven and motivated to make this happen. We need to either sweet talk or twist some arms at ERC and TRANSCO and let them know that we are not second class citizens and deserve to have the same benefits as our neighbors. It is spelled out in the TDP that one of Transco’s duties and responsibilities is to provide NON-DISRIMINATORY access to its system for all users. One will have a hard time convincing me that more than 200,000 men, women and children is not a significant number enough that we are to continue living with measly 3,4 or 5 MW of power while our neighbors have power up their you know what.

Those who cannot hack the job need to take a long walk and make room for those who can and who will make this happen. We have no more room for people who will jump up and down and recite reasons why it cannot happen. We need leaders who will come up with ways on how to make it happen, rise up above insults, criticisms,excuses and get the job done. It’s either you shape up or you ship out!

I am calling on all concerned citizens, watchdogs, adventurers, sorcerers, witches….and politicians on the island. This job is very doable ladies and gentlemen. Above projects are a living witness that we do have able bodied leaders in this country. They have made it happen. It is now our turn. Any takers?


Joe Joson
Anaheim, ‘Califoonia’


P.S.
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