The NGCP has commenced construction works on the PhP 52 billion Visayas-Mindanao Grid Connection Project (VMIP). Recently, the Philippines’ Energy Investment Co-ordinating Council (EICC) declared the VMIP to be an energy project of national significance, in order to help fast-track its development. The VMIP involves the construction of a 92 km long, ±350 kV high voltage direct current (HVDC) submarine cable between the Santander (in Cebu, Visayas) and Dapitan (in Zamboanga del Norte, Mindanao) cable terminal stations (CTSs); a 50 km long, ±350 kV HVDC overhead transmission line (OHTL) from the Santander CTS to the Sibonga converter station in Cebu; a 135 km long, HVDC OHTL from the Dapitan CTS to the New Aurora converter station in Mindanao; new converter stations; a new substation in Umapad, Cebu; and expansion of the Magdugo (in Cebu) and New Aurora (in Mindanao) substations. Work on the project is expected to be completed by 2020.
