NGCP assures Luzon of stable power supply

Expect no brownouts in Luzon, especially in Metro Manila, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines announced Sunday, saying that it would upgrade the San Jose substation in Bulacan by replacing its 600-megavolt ampere transformer. National Grid, which is controlled by Henry Sy Jr., son of SM mall chain founder Henry Sy, will upgrade the San Jose substation by replacing the 600-MVA transformer T01 with a new 750-MVA transformer. The company, which operates the country's power transmission superhighway, reckons it is best to implement upgrade activities of the T01 sometime in July until August 4 – a period with typically low system demand. Temporary shutdown and replacement of T01 will reduce the transfer capacity of the substation from 1,960 MVA to 1,540 MVA, the company said. “However, power customers can still expect continuous service and no outages during the said period with the full dispatch of Malaya and Limay plants already committed by its operators Korea Electric Power Corp. and San Miguel Corp.," National Grid said. Power customers in the Luzon power grid, especially in Metro Manila, are expected to benefit from the transformer upgrade as this would ultimately increase the San Jose substation capacity from 2,400 MVA to 3,000 MVA. National Grid expects that once the transformers are energized, power-generating plants in Luzon using the 500 kilovolt-transmission backbone would be able to resume full dispatch of electricity. The company assured its customers that it will put in place more reliable substations and high voltage power lines to improve the transmission system throughout the country. —Jesse Edep/VS, GMANews.TV