4 NGCP transmission lines in Samar restored

MANILA, Philippines - The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the country’s transmission highway operator, yesterday said power in four of its transmission lines are back on line after being disrupted by Typhoon Gorio, which struck parts of the Visayas Saturday morning.

In an advisory, the NGCP said the Palanas Cara-Catarman 69-kilovolt line, the Catarman-Allen 69-kV line, and the Catarman-Bobolosan 69-kV line, all in Northern Samar, and the Wright-Taft 69-kV line in Eastern Samar have been restored.

Customers affected by the disruption of the lines are those of the Northern Samar Electric Cooperative and the Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative Inc.

On the other hand, the NGCP is still restoring the Taft-Borongan-MacArthur 69-kV line in Eastern Samar, which affected portions of the Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative franchise area.

The NGCP said the loss of power might have been caused by typhoon-affected transmission facilities of the company or the distribution facilities of local distribution utilities or electric cooperatives.

The NGCP said necessary preparations and precautions have been implemented to minimize the impact of Gorio on its operations and facilities.

“These include ensuring the availability of hardware materials and supplies necessary for the repair of damage to facilities, as well as the positioning of line crews in strategic areas, to facilitate immediate restoration work. Aerial patrol, inspection, and restoration of lines in the affected areas will be in full swing as soon as the weather allows it,” it said.

The NGCP is a privately owned corporation in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s power transmission network. It is a joint venture of State Grid Corp. of China and Henry Sy Jr., the eldest son of mall magnate Henry Sy.