NGCP warns of power interruptions due to maintenance work

MANILA, Philippines - The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the private operator of the country’s power transmission system, has warned of sporadic power interruptions nationwide due to preventive maintenance work on its substation facilities.

The maintenance process is among NGCP’s initial activities after assuming the operations of the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) early this year.

In a statement, NGCP said it would duly advise power distributors “should there be a power interruption as a result of these maintenance activities.”

NGCP said this would enable the distribution utilities to inform a sizeable number of household and business establishments who will be affected bythe power disruption. 

But NGCP said it would exert all efforts to minimize, if not completely do away with any inconvenience that the maintenance works may bring to some power customers.

The maintenance, NGCP said, will ensure the safety, reliability and efficiency of the power grid.

NGCP has engaged in advanced operational practices and techniques to further reduce, if not eradicate, the tripping of lines and minor grid disturbances in all its facilities.

NGCP’s strong technical background comes from the expertise and rich experience of both its technical partners and the highly skilled Filipino manpower which completes the technical lineup for preventive maintenance activities ongoing across the country.

As a privately-owned utility, NGCP said it is committed to becoming a more efficient, reliable, flexible and responsive firm, taking advantage of its position as a private sector enterprise.

NGCP pointed out there are several lines which are very critical and cannot be taken out of service even for a short period of time so the company has been conducting these preventive maintenance efforts in shorter, more manageable phases. 

The scheduled maintenance activities of transmission facilities started early this year in preparation for summer when demand would be at its peak.

These activities are still ongoing in most of the regional areas to prevent failures of substations, transmission line structures and other facilities and to identify defects for corrective maintenance taking into consideration HSE (health, safety and environment) requirements.

Maintenance activities include testing of protective relays and fault clearance systems, infrared thermal scanning, battery load capacity tests, dissolved gas analysis, ultraviolet inspection, station grounding tests and leakage current monitoring.

NGCP is the corporate vehicle of the Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp.-led consortium in bidding for TransCo’s 25-year lease agreement. Aside from MOGRC, the other members of the group are Calaca High Power Corp. and State Grid International Development Ltd. of China.

In December 2007, the consortium won the concession to operate and manage TransCo’s facilities with an offer of $3.95 billion.

Earlier, NGCP said it plans to invest some P10 billion capital which would be spent every year for the maintenance of TransCo’s operations.