NGCP revises tech’l inspection process

MANILA, Philippines - The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the operator of the country’s power transmission highway operator, has revised some of its technical standard operating procedures (SOP) pertaining to the inspection of lines and substation equipment.

The revisions cover the SOPs on inspection of critical substation equipment including power transformers. NGCP created a new inspection checklist to ensure that all parts of the substation equipment function at optimal conditions.

Venusto Hamoy, NGCP’s deputy assistant chief technical officer for operations, said the company has been stepping up efforts to improve its system of delivering electricity to its customers.

At present, NGCP operates almost 20,000 circuit-kilometers of transmission lines and more than 27,000 megavolt-amperes of substation capacity across the country.

NGCP also improved its line patrolling and vegetation management on lands along the right-of-way. Line patrolling, which includes activities like tower-to-tower inspection and aerial patrol, were made more stringent to thoroughly assess the status of transmission lines, the company said.

“We are working on the more detailed reporting of transmission line and substation inspections as a proactive measure to avoid line trippings that may disrupt services to our customers,” Hamoy said.

Aside from the new procedures, NGCP also conducted a series of training seminars for its engineers. Before the first half of 2013 ended, all substation engineers were given a refresher on substation operations and protocols while a more advanced substation course is scheduled to be rolled out by the third quarter of this year.

NGCP also purchased more than 100 line trucks and new personal protective equipment for its line personnel to be distributed to all its field offices.

“All these changes and purchases are expected to uplift the level of our day-to-day operations and to develop the skills of our personnel. We acknowledge that these seemingly small changes have a big impact on power delivery to the whole country,” explained Hamoy.

NGCP is a privately-owned corporation in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s power grid. It transmits high-voltage electricity through “power superhighways” that include the interconnected system of transmission lines, towers, substations, and related assets. NGCP’s regular maintenance activities and assistance to other members of the power industry aim to enhance the reliability and quality of electricity delivered to customers.