The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines has energized new power transformers in several substations in Northern Luzon to improve power transmission services.

Jenny Afroilan, acting regional information officer of the NGCP, said Wednesday that the NGCP energized its 100 MegaVolt-Ampere (MVA) Transformer 1 in their Tuguegarao substation in Cagayan, and another 100MVA Transformer 1 in their San Esteban substation in Ilocos Sur.

This was followed by a 100MV transformer in their Laoag substation in Ilocos Norte.

“The upgrading of these substations is being done to cater to the load growth and provide N-1 contingency to substations in NGCP’s North Luzon Region. Without the project, power interruptions may be experienced by customers in the event of failure of existing transformers and power circuit breakers,” she said.

A requirement of the Philippine Grid Code, an N-1 contingency is the ability of the grid to withstand a major system disturbance with minimal or no impact to the system.

Aside from these projects, the NGCP is also set to upgrade its substations in other areas such as in La Union, Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Zambales and Nueva Ecija.

The overall substation upgrading project has already been filed with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) with a total project cost of PHP9.93 billion.

The NGCP is a Filipino-led, privately owned company in charge of operating, maintaining and developing the country’s power grid.

Based on its portfolio, the company is committed to investing approximately PHP440 billion over a 13-year period across 211 projects to support the country’s growing electricity demand and make its power backbone continuously reliable. (PNA)