Napocor allots P146 M for circuit breakers in missionary areas

MANILA, Philippines - The National Power Corp. (Napocor) has allocated P146 million to procure automatic reclosers, more commonly known as circuit breakers, for its off-grid electrification areas powered by the Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG).

These enhancements are aimed at reducing blackouts, improving electric services and protecting Napocor’s generating units from mechanical stress caused by line faults that shortens its economic life, said Napocor president Ma. Gladys Cruz-Sta.Rita.

“These automatic reclosers or circuit blackouts will open due to a fault in the distribution line but can automatically close and restore power supply once the fault clears itself. For instance, coconut leaves fall from a tree and collide with a distribution line, this may cause short circuit and may damage Napocor’s generation equipment, hence, opening of the recloser. However, as the leaves fall to the ground, the momentary short circuit will be cleared. The recloser will then close by itself minimizing the incident of tripping and brownout in the area,” she said.

Napocor-SPUG has already made an inventory of all its power plants and has identified which plants need these circuit breakers.

According to Napocor, 34 of the power plants have operational reclosers, another 44 reclosers need to be upgraded and 41 power plants have no reclosers while most of the mini-grid have fuse cut-out for protection.

Napocor will prioritize those power plants without reclosers and those that need replacement,” said vice president Danilo Sedilla of Napocor-SPUG.

Furthermore, Napocor is also closely coordinating with electric cooperatives to regularly conduct patrolling and inspection along distribution lines to prevent line faults.