NGCP reactivates 2 crucial transmission lines in Visayas

MANILA, Philippines - The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the operator of the country’s power transmission highway, has reactivated two of the most crucial lines in Leyte and Iloilo Friday, marking a significant headway in its  restoration efforts in the typhoon-stricken Visayas.

NGCP energized its Ormoc-Simangan 69-kilovolt (kV) line on Nov. 22. Lights were turned on for the first time at the Ormoc City Hall in Leyte two weeks after Super Typhoon Yolanda badly hit the area, renewing Leytenos’ hopes for a bright Christmas as they start to rebuild their lives after the typhoon.

The line is connected to the substation of distribution utility Leyte Electric Cooperative V (Leyeco V) which distributes power to Ormoc City.

NGCP’s transformer at its own Ormoc substation is also operational and ready to serve Leyeco V.

Meanwhile in Iloilo, NGCP also successfully energized its Dingle-Natividad 69-kV line on the same day.

The line is connected to Iloilo Electric Cooperative III (Ileco III) which distributes power to portions of Iloilo including Anilao, Banate, Barotac Viejo and Ajuy.

The Department of Energy (DOE) said it is seeing to it that all necessary measures are being carried out to restore in the areas hit by Yolanda.

The DOE has committed to bring power to these affected areas on or before Christmas Eve, or Dec. 24, 2013.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said he met with officials of NGCP and the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to speed up the mobilization of the rehabilitation efforts.

Petilla has urged these agencies to closely coordinate with each other to fast track the repairs of the transmission facilities.

NGCP reported that there were a total of 1,959 transmission facilities that were damaged including backbone transmission lines, steel poles, and a converter station.

NGCP said it has been installing emergency restoration systems (ERS) in order to replace the transmission lines along with the continuous rehabilitation of the damaged facilities. ERS is a temporary transmission pole that can last up to 10 years. Permanent poles will be erected as soon as the power situation in the affected areas stabilizes. 

Also critical for bringing back the power in the Visayas is the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter station and the Ormoc-Cabacungan 350kv HVDC line which is targeted to be back online by Dec. 20. The HVDC interconnects the Luzon and the Visayas grids.