No outages as Natl Grid works on substation – Energy chief

There would be no power outages in Luzon while the San Jose substation in Bulacan is undergoing rehabilitation, the Energy Department said Monday. The San Jose is one of National Grid Corporation of the Philippines' most crucial substations from which the Manila Electric Co. draws its power requirements. "The first order of business is energy supply. We're trying to address the challenge of electricity supply in Luzon brought about by some of the rehabilitation work at the San Jose facility," Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras told reporters during a briefing in Makati City. National Grid, operator of the country's transmission highway, will replace San Jose’s 600-megavolt ampere transformer, called T01, by a 750-MVA unit. The rehabilitation works is expected to last until Aug. 4. The transformers used by the substation have deteriorated over time, causing five-hour outages in June last year. National Grid has reported that the temporary shutdown and replacement of T01 will reduce the transfer capacity of the substation from 1,960 MVA to 1,540 MVA. Almendras said there might be brownouts should one of the bigger plants goes offline. The department started monitoring the power situation three times a day, he added. "Everybody is working in making sure that we alleviate such possibility (outages) from happening. I cannot promise that there will be no brownout. If there would be a major breakdown in one of the larger plants, there will have to be," Almendras said. —Jesse Edep/VS, GMANews.TV