PAGADIAN
CITY, Sept. 25 (PNA) –- The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines on Thursday
has completely restored power in Western Mindanao and some areas in Northern
Mindanao.
The
NGCP move came after the Agus 5-Aurora 138-kV line tripped off, which caused
power outage in the areas.
Elizabeth
Ladaga, NGCP regional corporate communications officer, said on Friday that investigation
showed trees and vegetation along the Baloi-Aurora 138- kilovolt (KV) in Sitio
Taytay, Barangay Ditucalan, Iligan City caused the line to trip at 9:35 a.m. on
Thursday.
She
said the scheduled maintenance shutdown on the second line--Agus 5-Aurora
138-KV--delivering power to Zamboanga Peninsula was aborted to bring back the
power immediately to the affected areas.
She
said the transmission line was energized before noon of the same day Thursday,
restoring power to Zamboanga Peninsula.
The Baloi–Aurora
138-kV line, on the other hand, was energized at 1:13 p.m. after trees and
vegetation that caused the line fault was cleared.
Ladaga
said the planting of trees and vegetation clearly violates the company’s
right-of-way policy and breached the recommended safety clearance.
Meanwhile,
the NGCP commits to vigilantly monitor the grid for similar incidents that
cause disturbance to the grid and vows to restore transmission services at the
soonest possible time.
“This,
however, has proven to be a challenge for us,” the company said.
“It has
become the practice of some uncooperative landowners to intentionally plant
trees or build structures under NGCP lines, and demand for recompense when we
seek entry into the property to conduct maintenance activities. The trees and
other structures under our facilities breach our safety clearances and endanger
the reliability of the entire grid. This is exactly what happened today,” NGCP
stressed.
NGCP
has repeatedly warned the public that trees and other structures under
transmission facilities breached safety clearances and endangered the
reliability of the entire grid.
“These
lines are crucial to the delivery of electricity from the power sources to the
Mindanaoan consumers. We are seeking the aid of the provincial governments in
the area by asking them to support our efforts against these uncooperative
landowners, and when relevant, issue a resolution prohibiting tree-planting and
building of structures under transmission lines,” NGCP said.
The
right-of-way condition has elevated the Mindanao grid to a critical level by
threatening the entire island with rotating power interruptions due to
aggravated generation deficiency caused by transmission lines overrun by
vegetation.
“Right-of-way
remains one of the biggest stumbling blocks for new projects as well as regular
maintenance activities. We hope that these errant landowners will allow us to
conduct our maintenance activities without resistance, for the sake of all
electricity consumers in Mindanao,” NGCP said.
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.
The
consortium, which holds the 25-year concession contract to operate the
country's power transmission network, is comprised of Monte Oro Grid Resources
Corp., led by Henry Sy, Jr., Calaca High Power Corp., led by Robert Coyiuto,
Jr., and the State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC) as technical partner. (PNA)
RMA/BNB/TPGJR/HIROHITO
D. CADION
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