COTABATO CITY – The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) on Tuesday said the power situation of Mindanao has improved with the restoration to the Mindanao grid of Agus 1 and Agus 2 hydropower plants on Monday.
As of Tuesday, Mindanao has 93 megawatts (MW) of excess power supply.
This development came after repair works on the bombed Tower 25 in Ramain, Lanao del Sur, were completed after the NGCP secured a temporary restraining order from a court against the Sanbitory family over right-of-way issues.
The Sanbitory family prevented the NGCP field personnel from doing repair works on Tower 25, which was bombed by still unidentified men last Christmas Eve. The family claimed right of way issues in preventing rehabilitation works for the toppled structure.
Melfrance Capulong, speaking for the NGCP in southern Mindanao, in a statement said repair works, which started of March 5, were completed nine days later, or on March 14.
She said it sent the 138KV line from Agus 1 and Agus 2 hydropower plants back to the Mindanao grid.
“The restoration of the facility allows the grid operator to transmit the electricity produced by state-owned Agus 1 and Agus 2 hydro power plants, with a combined installed capacity of 260MW, to the rest of the Mindanao grid,” a separate NGCP statement said.
“We are very pleased with this development. We have been poised and ready to restore the facility as soon as it was toppled. All we needed was access to the property. With the court-issued injunction, we were given legal cover to access the transmission facilities and begin restoration,” Capulong said.
In 2015, a total of 19 transmission towers were targeted, resulting in 16 toppled or damaged facilities.
As of Tuesday, the Mindanao grid has an available capacity of 1,569 MW while the island’s peak demand is at 1,476 MW or a power reserve of 93 MW.
The NGCP reiterates its appeal for the public to help in securing steel towers against saboteurs “for the good of everybody.”
Capulong lauded the initiatives of police authorities in Aleosan, North Cotabato, when it fenced Tower No. 63 and Tower 68 with indigenous bamboo poles. Both structures have been bombed in the past.
Senior Insp. Junete Napat, Aleosan town police chief, said his office would fence off all the 17 steel structures in Aleosan town. SFM