Bay–Calamba–Biñan Transmission Line

Bay–Calamba–Biñan Transmission Line (US-styled and The Tallest Transmission Line)
A lattice tower of the transmission line in Santo Tomas, Batangas.
Location
Country	Philippines
Province	Laguna Batangas Cavite
Coordinates	14°5′33″N 121°12′46″E 14°19′49″N 121°4′32″E
From	Bay Substation
Passes through	Calamba Substation
To	Biñan Substation
Ownership information
Owner	National Power Corporation (until March 1, 2003) National Transmission Corporation (March 1, 2003–present)
Operator	National Power Corporation (until March 1, 2003) National Transmission Corporation (March 1, 2003–January 15, 2009) National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (January 15, 2009–present)
Construction information
Commissioned	March 28, 2009 (March 28, 2009) (current line)
Technical information
Type	Overhead transmission line
Type of current	HVAC
Total length	35.33 km (21.95 mi)
No. of transmission towers	251 (205 steel poles, 46 lattice towers)
AC voltage	230 kV
No. of poles	205
No. of circuits	2

The Bay–Calamba–Biñan Transmission Line (abbreviated as 8LI1BIN-CAA, 8LI2BIN-CAA, 8LI1CAA-BYZ, 8LI2CAA-BYZ, BCBTL), formerly known as Bay–Biñan Transmission Line, is a 230,000 volt, double-circuit, two-part transmission line in Calabarzon, Philippines that connects Bay and Biñan substations of National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

History

The current power line was constructed from December 8, 2002 to March 28, 2009 from December 8, 2002 to March 28, 2009 spanning from the transmission line operators National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR/NPC) from December 8, 2002 to March 1, 2003, National Transmission Corporation (TransCo) from March 1, 2003 to January 15, 2009, and National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) from January 15 to March 28, 2009 as part of Batangas Transmission Reinforcement Project (BTRP). Lattice towers used on the Calamba–Biñan segment of the original transmission line, however, are still present despite that it is now abandoned upon the completion of the current line. The current power line was formerly a one-part power line or direct connection from March 28, 2009 to 2021. Due to becoming a two-part transmission line since 2021, NGCP replaced their steel poles and lattice towers' reference tags and renumbering of the steel poles and towers. The transmission line's right-of-way (ROW) or portions that use steel poles and lands where the poles are located were designated and acquired, and the poles themselves were built by TransCo with permission from the then operator of SLEX and another government-owned corporation Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC), Carmona, and Biñan local government units (LGUs).

Route description

The Bay–Calamba–Biñan Transmission Line passes through the provinces of Laguna, Batangas, and Cavite. The original transmission line and rights of way (ROWs) or portions of the current line that use lattice towers and steel poles near Bay Substation (1–49), that use steel poles starting pole 50 up until Biñan Substation, and connection to Calamba Substation were acquired, designated, and commissioned by government-owned companies National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR/NPC) and National Transmission Corporation (TransCo), and privately-owned National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), respectively. It is located within the service area of NGCP's South Luzon Operations and Maintenance (SLOM) Districts 1 (South Western Tagalog) and 2 (South Eastern Tagalog).

Bay to Calamba

The transmission line starts at Bay substation and enters Batangas after lattice tower 4. It passes through the barangays of Santa Elena, San Pablo, San Pedro, San Vicente, San Miguel, San Bartolome, San Antonio, Santiago, San Rafael, and Santa Anastacia in Santo Tomas. Before re-entering Laguna, it passes through Light Industry and Science Park III. It re-enters Laguna upon crossing Siam-Siam Creek, runs parallel with South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) on Calamba Exit starting with lattice tower 48, and shifts to double bundle conductor from quadruple bundle.and goes right to connect with Calamba Substation.

Calamba to Biñan

A portion of Bay–Calamba segment of the transmission line, using steel poles, along South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) in Laguna.

From Calamba Substation, the line continues to utilize the eastern side of SLEX from Calamba Exit to Carmona Exit and again uses steel poles after lattice tower 48. It continues straightforward, intersects with Calaca–Laguna Technopark–Biñan transmission line after passing Greenfield City/Unilab (Mamplasan) Exit, enters Cavite upon crossing Carmona River, exits SLEx at Carmona Exit, and run parallel with Governor's Drive and General Malvar Street. The power line again enters Laguna and ends at Biñan substation.

Technical description

The transmission line is a double circuit, double to quadruple bundle power line with its 60.04-60.27 hertz limit on equipments. The transmission line's lattice towers run outside of the SLEX right-of-way or alignment and to the challenging terrain. The poles were 94% design from the USA and 79% from China. During the renaming the transmission line, the pole's reference tags had to be replaced (by ripping and scrapping off the old reference tag), relabel the reference tags from (8LI1BIN-CAA)001, (8LI2BIN-CAA)001 to (8LI1CAA-BYZ)001, and (8LI2CAA-BYZ)001 and renumbering the poles. The reference tags is placed on near pole number tag or over the pole number tag. These techniques make the crews difficult to identify. The electrical current runs south because it is the last of the six power lines that form the transmission network from Bataan Combined Cycle Power Plant (BCCPP) in Limay, Bataan to Mak–Ban Geothermal Power Plant in Santo Tomas also in Batangas and Bay in Laguna. Double circuit steel poles had suspension design (braced line post) and double circuit anchor design (deadend insulators).

Electrical Information of Bay–Calamba–Biñan Transmission Line

Segment	Current	Volts	Heading
Biñan–Calamba	not measured	230,000	South
Calamba–Bay

Bundle information

Bundle type and segment	Spacers	Amps	Broken spacers
double bundle (Biñan–Calamba)	500 +	not measured	0
double and quadruple bundle (Calamba–Bay)	300 +	not measured	0

Components and length

Segment	Number of structures	Length
Biñan–Calamba	203 (202 steel poles, 1 lattice tower)	18.95 km
Calamba–Bay	50 (45 lattice towers, 5 steel poles)	16.38 km

Insulator information

Type of steel pole or lattice tower	Height	Weight	Insulator
Suspension steel pole (flag)	74-86m tall	7+ tons	6 braced line posts (line 1 on upper 3 and line 2 on lower 3) made of 20 porcelain discs with steel crossarm at top segment (steel pole design of this type along South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) right-of-way (ROW) or alignment have one insulator with custom crossarm and ignoring the one designed on the pole itself. Another variant which uses US-styled steel pole, found also along SLEX, have three braced line posts and steel crossarm at both sides.
Anchor steel pole (flag)			6 horizontal dead-end insulators (line 1 on upper 3 and line 2 on lower 3) made of 21-22 porcelain discs with 6 horizontal pole-mounted porcelain insulator at the center. Some anchor poles can also have a custom crossarm and ignoring the one designed on the pole itself. Another variant that uses US-styled steel pole have three horizontal dead-end insulators made of 22 discs and six vertical porcelain insulators mounted on wider steel crossarms, and a narrower crossarm for the overhead ground wire (OHGW) at both sides.
Suspension lattice towers	70m	no calculation	6 vertical insulators consisting of 42 porcelain discs at each side.
Anchor lattice towers			6 dead-end horizontal insulators with porcelain discs ranging from 21 to 22 discs and 6 vertical porcelain insulator (double bundle) and 16 for each bundle totaling to 48 discs (quadruple bundle).