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Iloilo City power distributor warns of prolonged blackout

Philippines | Luzon

Iloilo City power distributor warns of prolonged blackout

By Tara Yap

ILOILO CITY – MORE Power, this city’s power distribution utility, warned that prolonged power interruptions following the New Year blackout that affected Panay Island can happen again if the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) fails to finish a key facility in Iloilo.

Roel Castro, president and CEO of MORE Power, noted the unfinished 138-kiloVolt (kV) substation that is part of NGCP’s transmission lines linking the Visayan islands of Panay, Negros, and Cebu.

Castro warned that Iloilo City and other parts of Panay Island will be under rotating power blackouts when the grid managed by NGCP does not have the capacity to deliver the power supply from the power generators to distribution utilities such as MORE Power.

During the hearings in the Senate and House last week, Castro said that the 138-kV substation is very important in stabilizing power transmission lines.

Based on the Transmission Development Plan (TDP) of the NGCP, the 138-kV substation in Iloilo was supposed to have been completed in 2021.

However, the Department of Energy (DOE) said the project was delayed due to right-of-way issues.

The NGCP had earlier confirmed that the Supreme Court (SC) issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) for an expropriation case.

The SC granted in favor of the petition of Iloilo Grain Complex Corp. (IGCC) which will not allow the property to be taken where two tower sites of NGCP are supposed to be built.

“The two tower sites fall under the property of IGCC and is considered crucial as this 1.7-kilometer transmission line will connect the proposed Iloilo Substation to the Ingore Cable Terminal Station, which will serve as the connection point of the submarine cable to Guimaras Island,” the NGCP said in a statement.

Related Tags

Blackout MORE Power Iloilo National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP)

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