Reduced and Approximate Models of Philippine

Major Island Power Grids

Edwin B. Cano, Member, IEEE, and Fouzul A. Shaikh, Member, IEEE

AbstractThe restructuring of electric power industry brings

challenges and opportunities among its stakeholders. Economic
and engineering analyses brought forth by these changes are
usually tested on power system test models to study different
strategies. In a developing country, like the Philippines, where
commercial and security concerns may prevent the availability of
these test systems, the involvement of research and academic
communities maybe limited. This paper reports the development
of reduced and approximate power system models for major
islands in the Philippines using publicly available data which can
be utilized for research and academic purposes.
Index TermsElectric power test systems, interconnected
power systems, electric power system modeling.

I. INTRODUCTION

HE restructuring of the electric power industry in

developed and developing nations brought new challenges
and new opportunities for engineering and economic studies.
Establishment of electricity markets and integrating the effect
of these competitive markets with system operations and
planning has changed the usual traditional approaches
involving electric power grids. Normally, the solutions and
impact of new approaches to the challenges and changes are
tested using established test power systems which are publicly
available [1-2].
In the Philippines, the introduction of Wholesale Electricity
Spot Market (WESM) was tested using a reduced model of the
Luzon power system [3]. Further, WESM continues to post the
Luzon and Visayas single-line diagrams utilized in the market
operations [4], though these diagrams are provided publicly,
the power flow models are not available to the public for
obvious reasons of security and commercial sensitivity
concerns [5].
As the electric power industry develops, electrical
engineering education must adapt with the development
especially in preparing students in providing solutions to the
system-market interaction issues in the near future. The lack of
publicly available power system models maybe a limitation in
this area. It would be helpful for the students if power system
models which are available publicly can be introduced, studied
E. B. Cano is with the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO),
NY 12305 USA, (e-mail: ebcano@gmail.com).
F. A. Shaikh is with the Department of Electrical Engineering in Krishna
Engineering College, Ghaziabad, India. (e-mail: fouzulazeem@yahoo.com).

and analyzed in their power courses to get attuned to the

restructured electric power industry.
The development of reduced and approximate major island
power grid models of the Philippines namely: Luzon, Visayas
and Mindanao, was conducted to address these issues.
Standing on the foundation of the main reference [5], the
purpose of this undertaking is to provide reduced and
approximate modeling of the physical components and the
physical characteristics of the real Luzon, Visayas and
Mindanao power grids without claiming to be accurate models
but can be made available publicly.
Recent work on approximate power system models are
reported in [5] and [6]. In [5], a large interconnection model of
the Union for Coordination of Transmission of Electricity
(UCTE) was created. The model is reported to have 1254
buses and 378 generator encompassing eighteen (18) nations
in Europe and was utilized for studying cross-border power
transactions. In [6], the Northeastern Power Coordinating
Council (NPCC) equivalent model was reported aimed to be
utilized for engineering and economics studies. In this work, a
thirty-six (36) bus NPCC model is introduced including market
data representation.
This paper is organized as follows: Section I introduces the
research subject area; Section II discusses the description of
the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao power grids; Section III
presents the development of the reduced and approximates
power system models; Section IV provides numerical
examples of power flow outputs from the developed reduced
and approximate models; and Section V presents the
conclusions and further recommendations of the paper.
II. CHARACTERISTICS OF PHILIPPINE MAJOR ISLAND POWER
GRIDS
A. Luzon
The Luzon power system is the largest electric power grid in
the Philippines, Figures 1 and 2. It is operated with a 500 kV
power transmission backbone passing through provinces from
the north to the south and has a length of more than 900 cktkm [7]. The central portion to the load center, Metro Manila, is
a 230 kV meshed network. The southern transmission grid has
230 kV voltage level and is also served by a 350 kV High
Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) [7-8] transmission lines plus
submarine cables interconnecting the Luzon and Visayas grids.
The generation capacity in Luzon is 7,829 MW [9].

Fig. 2. Map of South Luzon power grid [7].

Fig. 1. Map of North Luzon power grid [7].

Northern power plants are mostly hydro and coal fired [10].
Gas turbines and diesel generators surround the load centers in
Central Luzon and Metro Manila. A 650 MW thermal power
plant is located south of Metro Manila. The power plants in
the south of Luzon are natural gas power plants comprising
about 2,760 MW, 1,875 MW coal fired and geothermal plants
of 954 MW capacity [10]. Luzon power grid has about a
1,000 MW generation reserve margin according to the
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the
nation's grid concessionaire responsible for the operation and
maintenance of the three major island power grids [9].
There are thirty (30) provincial areas supplied by the Luzon
power grid where Metro Manila takes about 50% of the
electric demand. Interchange 230 kV substations, specifically;
Balintawak, Araneta, Zapote, Dolores and Sucat serve the high
demand in Metro Manila [11]. Various industries, including
steel, cement and mining; government agencies and utilities;
electric cooperatives and private distribution utilities, and
economic zones constitute the load profile for Luzon.
B. Visayas
The power transmission system in Visayas has 230 kV and
predominantly 138 kV voltage levels, presented in Figure 3. A
combination of high voltage overhead transmission lines and
submarine cables provide power to five (5) islands, namely:
Leyte-Samar, Bohol, Cebu, Negros and Panay. The 230 kV
and 138 kV transmission lines have more than 2,100 ckt-km,

including submarine cables which are about 130 ckt-km [7].

The radial Visayas grid has 138 kV submarine cables
connecting Leyte-Samar to Bohol, 230 kV submarine cables
connecting Leyte-Samar to Cebu, 138 kV submarine cables
connecting Cebu to Negros and 138 kV submarine cables
connecting Negros to Panay. The 350 kV HVDC connecting
Luzon and Visayas is located at Leyte-Samar.
Main generation profile in Visayas is a mix of geothermal,
diesel and coal fired plants. Geothermal power plants in Leyte
have 720 MW capacity and another 190 MW capacity in
Negros [10]. There are diesel generating stations scattered
throughout the five islands having registered maximum power
of more than 600 MW [12]. Less than 200 MW of coal fired
plants are located in the Cebu island [10]. NGCP estimates
that Visayas has about 170 MW of reserve margin [9].
Eleven provinces are supplied with electricity via the
Visayas power grid. The load profile includes industries and
government agencies, thirty distribution utilities owned
privately and by cooperatives which would have an estimated
peak of 1,400 MW [7, 9].
C. Mindanao
Mainly, 138 kV level transmission lines and 69 kV
subtransmission lines cover the Mindanao region which total
to about 3,100 ckt-km [7]. Recent developments indicate that
230 kV substations and transmission lines have been
commissioned [13] and underway targeted for completion in
2012 [14]. Figure 4 shows the 230 kV system developments in
Mindanao which are in red dotted lines.
Mindanao suffers from less generating capacity with
growing electric demand. The Department of Energy (DOE)
reports that the available generating capacity is about 1,280
MW which is coming from hydro sources (646 MW) and
thermal power plants (634 MW) [15]. The Mindanao power
grid has a projected peak of 1,300 MW [15], covering 21
provinces and delivering power to private distribution utilities
and electric cooperatives [7].

Fig. 3. Map of Visayas power grid [7].

III. DEVELOPMENT OF REDUCED AND APPROXIMATE MODELS

USING PUBLIC DATA
A. Transmission Lines and Cables
Modeling transmission lines in power systems requires line
capacities,
lengths,
conductor
impedances
and
interconnectivity. Public sources were collated to model line
and cable parameters in 100 MVA base.
For Luzon and Visayas, the thermal capacities of
transmission lines and cables were taken from WESM's
Market Network Model [11]. The lines capacities for
Mindanao, 300 MVA for 230 kV and 215 MVA 138 kV
transmission lines, were assumed to have the same capacity as
that of Visayas grid.
Using the power grid maps provided in [7] for Luzon and
Visayas, and [19] for Mindanao, the lengths of transmission
lines and cables existing before 2011 to 2012 were measured
using Google Earth [24]. Application of plus 5 km. was
considered to account for right of way instead of the straight
line distance measured. References [13] and [14] included
transmission system projects with specified lengths of new
transmission lines and were utilized for modeling.
During the development of the Luzon model, the line
parameters provided in page 68 of [16] were utilized. The
given line and cable parameters in [17] were used for
modeling Visayas and Mindanao transmission system since
this data provides parameters for lines at 138 kV voltage level
and transmission cables. The transmission system presented in
[3] and [11] were considered for the Luzon and Visayas
lines/cables configuration. For Luzon, the reduced model
presented in [3] was updated accordingly with the revisions
indicated in [11].
The Mindanao system diagram on Figure 4 [19], and
appropriate data from [14, 22, 23] were utilized to model the
connectivity of transmission lines.

Fig. 4. Map of Mindanao power grid [7].

The 230 kV and 138 kV voltage level buses were only

considered to model reduced versions of Visayas and
Mindanao models, with the exception of the 69 kV lines from
Kidapawan-Tacurong-Nuling were included in the Mindanao
model since these branches provide a loop with the 138 kV
system. The 230 kV transmission system expansion in
Mindanao as reported in [13-14] were incorporated in the
Mindanao model.
B. Substation Transformers
Capacity and impedances are necessary to model substation
transformers for power systems, where impedances are
normalized to a common base or referred to the equipment
MVA rating.
Luzon and Visayas transformer capacities are given in [11].
For Luzon, the interchange transformers feeding Metro Manila
and bulk transformers converting 500 kV to 230 kV were
integral to the power flow data. The transformers at Bohol
138/69 kV, Ormoc 230/138 kV and Compostela 230/138 kV,
all of which are terminating from either submarine cables or
HVDC, were included in the Visayas model.
Following the reason provided in the transmission lines'
discussion, the 138/69 kV transformers at Kidapawan,
Tacurong and Nuling were integrated in the Mindanao model.
All transformer impedances were assumed to follow the
values given in [18] and were converted to 100 MVA base.
C. Generators
Data for modeling generating units sufficient for power flow
are the following: generator location or connection point,
generator maximum and minimum real and reactive power.
The generators were modeled injecting at the high voltage
buses to minimize number of buses allocations, which is
limited by the software tool [25] being used.
Luzon and Visayas generators data were acquired from
WESM's Market Network model [11]. The generation data
given in [15] were utilized for Mindanao generators' modeling.
The single line diagrams given in [11] provide generator

connection point; generator maximum real power (Pmax) and

minimum real power capacity were assumed to be 10% of the
Pmax. Generator models were assumed to supply and absorb
reactive power between plus and minus 0.90 power factor.
When running power flow, the dispatch of generation is
vital to the resulting branch flows and nodal voltages.
Knowing power flow direction in a given system may help in
committing and dispatching generation. In Luzon, main load
pockets in the center of the island and significant generation at
the northern and southern part give large power flows meeting
at the load pockets coming from both vertical ends of the
island. The radial interconnection and location of generating
plants in the northeastern part of Visayas reveal the power
flow is going from the northeast to the western portion [7, 12].
Likewise, public data on generation dispatch can be utilized,
as provided by WESM on their Market Prices and Schedules
[20] which were used for Luzon and Visayas generation
dispatch. As previously stated that Mindanao region has
generation deficit and generation dispatch is limited to several
units which are enumerated in [15]. The numbers shown in this
presentation were used as inputs for Mindanao generation
dispatch and the data is explicitly given for peak and off-peak
conditions where hydro and thermal units specified.
Generators cost bid and offers data can be accessed from the
WESM website [21] for Luzon and Visayas. The cost data per
period for each generating unit are presented as piece-wise
linear curves. No generation cost data is available publicly for
Mindanao.
D. Demand
Constant power models, MW and Mvar, were considered in
modeling demand for the three island grids. Load models were
considered as receiving power at the high voltage buses to
minimize the number of buses being used and were modeled to
have 0.90 power factor.
Total electric demand for each island grid is available at the
NGCP website and at the WESM website, which does not
provide Mindanao loading conditions. Demand allocation in
Luzon is presented in [3] and interchange transformers at
Zapote were added to allocate loads within Metro Manila. The
load profile utilized in the study of extending WESM in
Visayas [12] was used for demand partitioning for the rest of
the Visayas grid.
There is no publicly available for demand allocation for the
Mindanao. For the Mindanao approximate model, the load
distribution was based on the population of each region, group
of provinces, taken from [22]. The total Mindanao electric
demand was partitioned per percentage population where the
load substations are located per region.
E. Reactive Power Compensation
Acceptable magnitudes of shunt compensation, whether
capacitive or inductive, are needed to maintain acceptable bus
voltage levels. These were modeled as Mvar quantities in
developing the power system models.
Data from [4] and [7] were used for reactive power
compensation inputs and modeling. For Luzon, the 500 kV
system backbone has about 300 Mvar reactors [4] to control
voltages. To augment the amount of susceptance in the

submarine cables in Visayas, more than 500 Mvar reactors are

installed [4]. The Mindanao grid utilizes capacitors at the load
end of about 260 Mvar.
F. Software Tool
To come up with power system models having various
components as discussed above, a power system software tool
must be used. There are commercial programs [25-26] which
offer university versions for research and education. These
versions are limited by the number of buses which can be
included in the model.
As the aim of this project is to provide publicly available
power system models which can be useful for power systemelectricity market simulations, PowerWorld was utilized. The
PowerWorld version can accommodate up to forty-one (41)
buses. The component data editor in PowerWorld provides
access to both power system and electricity market data.
Further, PowerWorld can open and save models in various
formats of power flow data such as PTI, PSLF and IEEE CF
[25].
IV. ILLUSTRATIVE POWER FLOW OUTPUTS
Using PowerWorld simulator, the power flow of the
developed Luzon grid model was solved using generation and
load data of WESM on September 9, 2012, period 9.
As presented in Figure 5, Manila is the load center of the
Luzon grid. Power coming from the South generation
dominates the inter-area power flows as the south area feeds
the other four areas and this area comprised about sixty
percent of the total generation. Northern area supplies power
to the Central and Manila areas. Figure 6 shows the bus
voltages results utilizing the contour ability of the software
tool. The voltages at the generator buses are more or less equal
to 1.0 pu since the voltages at these buses are controlled by the
machines' Mvar capability. The voltages at the load buses are
below 1.0 pu as seen in the figure. The 500 kV system buses,
with orange transmission lines, have voltage levels above 1.0
pu.
Visayas reduced model was simulated using the WESM
generation schedule of September 10, 2012, period 4. Table 1,
shows the 35 bus voltages in the model. The load buses have
magnitudes lower than 1.0 per unit while generation buses are
controlled at about 1.0 per unit voltage. The power flows and
bus voltages at Tabango 230 kV are presented in Figure 7.
The whole single line diagram of the reduced Mindanao
model is provided in Figure 8. The model has thirty-three (33)
buses, fifty-six (56) branches and fourteen (14) generators.
The condition simulated herein is peak load condition as given
in [14]. Generation is about 1020 MW feeding a load of about
990 MW. As stated above, the 230 kV expansion is included
in this model thus providing more robust transmission system
across Mindanao.

TABLE 1. VISAYAS BUS VOLTAGES BASED ON WESM GENERATION SCHEDULE

OF SEPTEMBER 10, 2012.
PU
Number
Name
Nom kV
Volt (kV)
Volt

Fig. 5. Inter-area power flows for Luzon power grid based on WESM
generation schedule on September 10, 2012.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35

BABATNGON
ISABEL
TONGONAN
ORMOC
ORMOC 230
PNOC
TABANGO
MAASIN
BAGOLIBAS
WRIGHT
4BAGTAP
UBAY
UBAY 69
TALISAY
COMPOSTELA
COMPOSTELA138
BANILAD
MANDAUE
MACTAN
QUIOT
CEDC
TALAVERA
SIGPIT
NAGA
AMLAN
PALINPINON I
PALINPINON II
MABINAY
KABANKALAN
BACOLOD
CADIZ
DINGLE
PANIT-AN
STA. BARBARA
HVDC

138
138
138
138
230
230
230
138
138
138
138
138
69
230
230
138
138
138
138
138
138
138
138
138
138
138
138
138
138
138
138
138
138
138
138

0.96543
0.99317
1.00000
0.99955
1.00041
1.00000
0.99915
0.94244
0.96049
0.95439
0.96126
0.94118
0.93037
1.00247
1.01448
1.00143
0.98311
0.97225
0.97109
0.98433
1.00000
0.99955
1.00000
1.00000
0.99557
1.00001
1.00001
0.97271
0.97594
0.99541
1.02274
0.99331
0.94519
1.00002
1.00191

133.23
137.06
138.00
137.94
230.09
230.00
229.81
130.06
132.55
131.71
132.65
129.88
64.20
230.57
233.33
138.20
135.67
134.17
134.01
135.84
138.00
137.94
138.00
138.00
137.39
138.00
138.00
134.23
134.68
137.37
141.14
137.08
130.44
138.00
138.26

V. CONCLUSION

Fig. 6. Voltage contour for Luzon power grid based on WESM generation
schedule on September 10, 2012.

Fig. 7. Tabango 230 kV power flows and bus voltages based on WESM
generation schedule of September 10, 2012.

This paper presented the characteristics of the major

Philippine island power grids and provided the discussion of
development of reduced and approximate models of Luzon,
Visayas and Mindanao electric power grids. The models were
derived from publicly available data and the simulations of the
models depicted WESM generation schedules for Luzon and
Visayas and peak condition for Mindanao.
Further work requires the validation of the developed
models with WESM's market schedules and results,
specifically for Luzon and Visayas. This work will entail using
WESMs generators bid data and security constrained
economic dispatch (SCED) coupled with optimal power flow
(OPF) solution.
The usage of these models within undergraduate and
graduate electrical engineering research and education is an
attractive prospect in a lecture-computer simulation laboratory
set-up analyzing various conditions and finding solutions to
the economic and technical issues of the power grids.
The inclusion of power system dynamic models for
generators and appropriate controls (exciters, governors,
power system stabilizers) utilizing industry accepted models
and data is another development worth pushing to analyze
transient stability of the reduced and approximate models
based on grid code recommendations.
The models are available by request by sending an email to
ebcano@gmail.com.

Fig. 8. Mindanao single line diagram power flow at peak load condition.

DISCLAIMER
The views developed in this article are those of the authors
and do not reflect necessarily the opinion of the companies
they are working for.
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Fouzul Azim Shaikh was born in Madhya

Pradesh, India. He obtained B.Sc. Engg.
(Electrical), M.Sc. Engg. (Power Systems) degrees
from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India,
and Ph.D. (Power Systems) degree from Jamia
Millia Islamia, University, New Delhi, India. He is
Professor in department of Electrical Engineering
in Krishna Engineering College, Ghaziabad, India.
He was teaching assistant in center for energy
studies, IIT Delhi, India, from 1999 to 2003. His name was considered for
inclusion in the 22nd Edition of Whos Who in the World. He was selected
as Volunteer for the IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man &
Cybernetics, 2003, Washington, USA. He has presented and published more
than fourteen papers in International journals, national and IEEE international
conference-proceedings. His research and teaching interests include Power
systems, soft computing, and Neural Networks applications in power systems
voltage stability.

Edwin B. Cano graduated from the Technological

University of the Philippines in March 2002 with the
degree of Master of Engineering in Electrical
Engineering. He has completed PhD-EE academic
units at University of the Philippines EEE
Department. He had his Bachelor of Science in
Electrical Engineering at Holy Angel University in
March 1993. He is a member of the IEEE. He was a
Principal Engineer B at the Network Protection Department, Luzon System
Operations, National Transmission Corporation in the Philippines from April
2003 to October 2007. He held power system engineering consulting
positions at Pterra, LLC (November 2007 January 2011) and Siemens
Power Technologies International (PTI) (April 2011 to April 2012).
Currently, he is a Senior Operations Engineer at the New York Independent
System Operator (NYISO). His technical interests include power system
modeling and analysis, fuzzy set theory applications in power systems, and
electromagnetic simulation of power systems.