Transmission firm National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is reinforcing the skills and technical expertise of its personnel in  operating of substations to ensure efficient operation of the power system. According to the company, the training activities they recently carried out revolved around operation as well as maintenance and testing of substations via the Mexico substation facility of NGCP. In technical terms, a substation is the facility that will "step down" high voltage electricity from the transmission system to a lower voltage, so these can be subsequently delivered to the residential and business consumers via distribution lines. In that training exercise, NGCP indicated that the skills and learning experiences gained by their personnel could be used “in effectively and efficiently maintaining the country’s transmission grid.” The transmission firm emphasized that such activity was being run since 2015; and in the latest three-day training exercise, at least 100 personnel participated to show their skills; as well as for them to exchange best practices and improve on their technical competencies when it comes to substation operations. NGCP specified that the training program covered “technical presentations on current and power transformer testing, transformer differential relay setting, power circuit breaker testing, and battery bank testing.” The other activities also involved “emergency shutdown procedures, inspection, maintenance, testing, and commissioning of transformers and other substation equipment;” while their regional groups set up booths with technical exhibits. The role of NGCP in the entire power supply chain of the country is very critical, especially in the energy transition agenda being pushed by the current administration. Essentially, the electricity system of the Philippines will eventually undergo transformation as more and more renewables will be integrated into the power system – and it will be very complex for the system operator to manage the variability of their generation capabilities. Even at the stage of project developments, the capacity wheeling of generated electricity from massive scale renewables would be one of the major hurdles needing resolution – because it is only through that way that the Philippines could meet its target of increasing the share of green energy technologies in its mix.