National Grid Corporation of the Philippines has sought immediate assistance from the government and the Philippine Army to address right-of-way problems that could cause more brownouts in Mindanao.
National Grid’s right-of-way problems reached a critical level with the sustained tripping of the Agus 2-Kibawe Line 1 in Mindanao at 9:39 a.m. on October 17.
National Grid head of operations and maintenance Gildo Listano said the restoration of the line had also been hampered by the security problem in Marawi City.
“The tripping of the line was caused by a fallen tree cutting the line conductors. This leaves NGCP with only one line [Agus-Kibawe line] catering to the Agus 1 and 2 power plants and threatening the entire Mindanao island with complete isolation from these hydropower plants should the remaining line become unavailable,” Listano said.
He said the isolation of an additional 260 megawatts of power capacity from Agus 1 and Agus 2 power plants would translate into around one to two hours of brownouts in the Mindanao grid, on top of the current shortfall experienced in the area.
“Outage of the hydroelectric plants along the Agus River due to vegetation problem further increases the generation deficiency in Mindanao which can be translated into several hours of rotating brownouts,” Listano said.
National Grid, in a separate statement, said the situation was further aggravated when landowners barred NGCP personnel to clear and restore the critical lines.
“It has become the practice of some uncooperative landowners to intentionally plant trees or build structures under high voltage transmission lines, and demand for recompense when we seek entry into the property to conduct maintenance activities. The trees and other structures under our facilities breach our safety clearances and endanger the reliability of the entire grid,” NGCP said.
The company sought an urgent request to the Energy Department and the Philippine Army to assist in the negotiations with landowners and clearing of the lines, respectively, as soon as possible.
The frequent dips in voltage and frequency severely affect both household appliances and industrial equipment.
“NGCP is seeking all avenues of support, from the DoE to the military to the public. We are also appealing to the local government units for a resolution prohibiting tree-planting and building any structure under transmission lines. This does not only affect NGCP or the hydro-plants, which form the bulk of their power supply, but all the power consumers in Mindanao stand to bear even longer power interruptions,” the company said.
National Grid said three transmission lines remain out due to R0W issues. These are Baloi-Agus 2 138 kV Line (out since July 26, 2014), Baloi-Agus 2 138 kV line 2 (out since November 18, 2014) and Baloi-Agus 6 69 kV line (out since December 27, 2014).
