NGCP assistant vice president and spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum in Malate, Manila. INQUIRER.net / Faith Argosino
MANILA, Philippines — The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) on Wednesday said that it has been monitoring its transmission lines and facilities for ash exposure from Mayon Volcano’s increased activity, which might impair electrical systems.
NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said they monitor Albay transmission towers, but the facilities remain operational with average transmission lines.
Alabaza said linemen manually clean towers after ashfalls to prevent power tripping from collecting ashes from disk insulators.
“Isa isa nilang pino-polish yan. The higher the voltage mas maraming insulators so yung mga disks na makikita niyo sa bandang dulo ng tower yun ang nalalagyan ng ash and if it is covered with ash ma-impede yung ability niya to insulate, tsaka baka posibleng ma-energize yung tower so that will be very dangerous,” she told reporters during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.
(Each insulator is polished. Higher voltage means more insulators, with piled ash reducing their capacity. Energizing towers is risky.)
Alabanza said that linemen manually cleaned towers during specific times or without ashfall threats, which could cause health issues like irritation, coughing, and breathing discomfort, as per the Department of Health.
She added that the corporation had placed a contingency measure to temporarily shut down portions of its facilities due to the effects of the ongoing volcanic activity in Mayon.
“[But] it’s just a contingency measure. To be clear normal ang operations in the people area and two other areas na may volcanic activities (Mayon and Taal), so walang preemptive shutdown,” Alabanza clarified.
(To be clear, the operations within the province and two other areas with volcanic activities are expected, so we are not yet going to implement a preemptive shutdown)
She also assured the public that if in case NGCP implements a preemptive shutdown, its goal is to localize the power disruption and isolate it to the most negligible possible impact, which would only last for a few hours, citing what they did back in Taal Volcano eruption in January 2020.
Last June 8, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) raised Alert Level 3 over Mayon Volcano due to “potential explosive activity happening within days or weeks.” Phivolcs said the volcano’s unrest may last for a few months.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported that over 14,000 residents were transferred to Albay evacuation centers following the Phivolcs’ announcement.