Talisay has new Veco substation

WITH an expected surge of power demand in southern Cebu, the Visayan Electric Co. (Veco) added a new substation in Talisay City.

The P5-million facility has a capacity of 33 MVA (megavolt amperes) to improve power system reliability and stability from Pardo in Cebu City to San Fernando town in south Cebu, said Veco assistant vice president for engineering Val Saludes III.

With an annual capital expenditure of P600 million to P800 million, Saludes said the investment aims to improve Veco service to 312,000 customers in their franchise area.

“At present the total demand in these areas is around 60 MW (megawatts). We projected this to increase by 20 MW when SM and Filinvest in the South Road Properties start operations,” Saludes said.

Peak demand is 400 MW from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. during summer months, he said.

Jaime Jose Aboitiz, Veco chief operations officer and executive vice president, they applied for two substations this year. These are awaiting approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission.

“Part of our investments go to rehabilitation and improvement of existing substations,” said Aboitiz.

The Talisay substation is Veco’s 18th substation.

The utility’s franchise area extends from Liloan town in the north to San Fernando town in the south. Reporter Aileen Garcia-Yap