TransCo installs 50-MVA transformer in Benguet

State-run National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) has recently energized an additional 50-MVA transformer in its La Trinidad (Benguet) substation, a top company official said.

TransCo president Alan T. Ortiz said the installation of additional capacity in the area would allow the facility to meet the urgent projected rise in power demand of locators inside the Baguio City Economic Zone (BCEZ).

With the additional transformer, the substation now has a total capacity of 200 MVA. 

During ceremonial switch-on rites,  Ortiz said "the early completion of this project reflects TransCo’s resolve to promptly address the growing power requirements of BCEZ locators who earn much-needed revenues for our country."

BCEZ is home to 15 industrial locators. Most notable of these is Texas Instruments (TI), ranked 166th on Fortune Magazine’s "500 Largest US Corporations" in 2005. 

TI is the largest producer of DSP chips in the world.  DSP chips are the brains behind cellphones. TI’s Baguio plant produces the chips that power 100 percent of all Nokia cellphones and 80 percent of Ericsson cellphones in the world.

TI’s Baguio plant is one of the company’s most sophisticated assembly and test facilities.  For more than 22 years, the plant has been building products that serve the needs of electronics equipment manufacturers in the United States, Asia, Europe and Japan and exports around $600-M worth of products annually. The company is currently expanding its facilities to gear up for more production this year. 

TI is the single biggest power customer in the BCEZ. It had originally shared one of the substation’s 75-MVA transformer with Philex Mining Corp. With the new 50-MVA transformer addition, the 75-MVA transformer is now wholly dedicated to TI.

TransCo started work on the project following PEZA’s September 2005 request to prioritize the substation capacity upgrade in light of TI’s planned business expansion.

"We are also working on the second phase of the power reliability project which involves the upgrading of the La Trinidad—Beckel—PEZA 69 kV Line. We’re doing our best to preserve thousands of Filipino jobs in our economic zones by upgrading our facilities and further improving our quality of service," Ortiz said. – Donnabelle Gatdula