Egay downs Luzon power lines

MANILA, Philippines — Super Typhoon Egay affected a number of transmission lines and power plants in Luzon.

The Department of Energy (DOE) said nine power plants in Luzon, mostly in Benguet, experienced outages due to outside management control, specifically transient line fault caused by strong winds and flashfloods.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said among the transmission lines that became unavailable were the Lal-lo-Sta. Ana 69-kilovolt line, San Esteban-Bangued 69-kV line, Itogon-Ampucao 23-kV line, La Trinidad-Ampucao 69-kV line and La Trinidad-Sablan 69-kV line.

Also affected were the Tuguegarao-Magapit 69-kV line, Cabanatuan-San Luis 69-kV line, San Esteban-Candon 69-kV line, San Esteban-Narvacan 69-kV line and Bauang-San Fernando 115-kV line.

Customers of electric cooperatives in Cagayan, Abra, Benguet, Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Ilocos Sur and La Union were affected.

Citing data from the National Electrification Administration, the DOE said 19 electric cooperatives were affected due to manual shutdown and tripping of NGCP lines.

The NGCP said it has mobilized its line crew and conducted patrols to inspect and assess the impact of the typhoon to its operations and facilities.

It said simultaneous restoration activities were conducted in areas that are accessible.

Power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said an automatic load dropping occurred at around 9:29 a.m. yesterday due to a plant tripping.

Meralco said the incident affected around 220,000 customers in parts of Caloocan, Makati, Malabon, Manila, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasay, Quezon City, Valenzuela, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga and Rizal.

Power was fully restored after 11 minutes or at around 9:40 a.m.

Rains continue to fill Angat

Meanwhile, the water level of Angat Dam continued to improve yesterday due to rains brought by Egay.

Records from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) of Bulacan showed that the water level of Angat Dam as of 8 a.m. yesterday was at 181.81 meters or .79 meters higher compared to 181.02 meters in the previous day.

The water levels of Ipo and Bustos Dams slightly dropped to 99.53 meters and 17.33 meters compared to the previous day’s levels of 99.63 meters and 17.36 meters, respectively.

The spilling level of Ipo Dam is 101 meters and 17 meters in Bustos Dam.

PDRRMO officer-in-charge Manuel Lukban Jr. said Bustos Dam opened two sluice gates and has been discharging 52 cubic meters per second in its downstream river system.

As this developed, the Department of Public Works and Highways reported that two roads were closed and four highways had limited access due to Egay.

The affected roads are in the Cordilleras, Soccsksargen and Calabarzon. – Ramon Efren Lazaro, Ric Sapnu, Bella Cariaso, Jose Rodel Clapano