Howler causes massive blackout

MANILA, Philippines - The pounding rain and strong winds brought by typhoon “Santi” left 35 percent of the 1.6 million customers of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) in Metro Manila and nearby provinces without electricity since early yesterday.

Meralco said the affected customers were mostly located in Manila, Pasig, San Juan, and the provinces of Rizal, Quezon, Laguna, Cavite, and Batangas, which still had no electricity as of 10 a.m. yesterday.

Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said they are making effort to restore power in the affected areas.

At the same time, Zaldarriaga called on the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and local government officials to help Meralco in its cleanup operations to restore power.

“We have to clear the lines of debris and other unsafe obstructions before putting back power to ensure public safety,” Zaldarriaga said.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said they have focused the restoration activities in Southern Luzon where several transmission lines had been toppled by strong winds caused by the typhoon.

The NGCP said the major transmission lines that were affected included the Labo-Naga 230-kilovolts (kV) line 1, Gumaca-Labo 230-kV line 1, Kalayaan-Gumaca 230-kV lines 1 and 2, San Jose-Tayabas 500-kV line 2, Kalayaan-Calauan 230-kV line, Kalayaan-Makban 230-kV line, Kalayaan-Malaya 230-kV line 1, Sucat-Araneta 230-kV line, and Sucat 115-kV tie line.

Two transformer units at the old Sucat substation were shut down when a portion of the substation was flooded, NGCP officials said.

The shutdown contributed directly to the power outage in Metro Manila during the typhoon.

The NGCP added that four transmission lines rated at 115 kV had tripped while Santi was passing through.

These were the Dasmariñas-Abubot-Rosario, Dasmariñas-Pala-Pala/Tagaytay and Dasmariñas-Ternate 115-kV lines in Cavite, and the Caliraya-Botocan 115-kV line in Laguna.

The affected areas included the towns of Dasmariñas, Rosario, Bacoor, General Trias, Imus, Tanza, Silang, Alfonzo, Amadeo, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, Indang, Magallanes, Mendez, Gen. Mariano Alvarez, Carmona, Maragondon, Naic and Ternate and the cities of Tagaytay and Trece Martires, all in Cavite, and Botocan town in Laguna.

Several other affected lines with lower voltage rating of 13.8 kV, 34.5 kV, and 69 kV were also reported in Batangas, Laguna, and Quezon.

Of these lines that tripped, three were fully restored. These were the Dasmariñas 34.5 kV Feeder 1 connected to Gavino Maderan, Barangay Bulihan, Barangay Anahaw II, Maguyam, Paligawan, San Agustin, Sampaloc III and Langakaan; Dasmariñas 34.5 kV Feeder 2 connected to the National Highway, Petron Gas, Gen. Aguinaldo Highway, Dasmariñas Service Center, and Amuntay; and Dasmariñas 34.5-kV Feeder 3 connected to Governor Drive, Aguinaldo Highway, Finetex, Robinson, Euromed and SM Dasmariñas.

Officials said 20 percent of the power load to the Gumaca-Hondagua-Tagkawayan 69-kV and Gumaca-Pitogo-Mulanay 69-kV lines has been restored.

The two lines are connected to Quezon Electric Cooperative 1 that distributes power to the towns of Hondagua, Tagkawayan, Calauag, Pitogo, General Luna, Padre Burgos, Unisan Mulanay, San Francisco, Agdamayan, and Del Gallego.

Due to the tripping of NGCP’s transmission lines as well as sub-transmission lines operated by distribution utilities, the current load of the Luzon grid is only around 50 percent, the NGPC said.

Around 7,170 megawatts of capacity is available in the grid, which is more than enough to accommodate the present peak demand of only around 2,480 MW.

The NGCP gave assurance all efforts are underway to restore full power in the affected areas.