Should there be no hitches, Bohol can expect transmission of supplemental power supply from Cebu by Monday.
Power will be coursed through a bypass line between the Tabango and Ormoc substations before it is transmitted to Bohol, said National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) Visayas spokesperson Betty Martinez.
Martinez told the Chronicle that the 230-kV transmission line will bypass a marshalling station of the damaged power plant in Tongonan, Leyte after drawing energy from the Cebu-Negros-Panay grid.
However, Martinez noted that the NGCP’s System Operations Group was still identifying the power capacity which can be drawn from said grid and directed to Bohol and Eastern Visayas.
“They made a simulation given the scenario of the energy side and the demand. They computed an estimate based on figures including supply from power plants in Cebu-Negros-Panay grid,” Martinez said.
“There have been no results yet but I’m making a follow-up on how much [power] exactly can be directed to Bohol and Region VIII,” she added.
According to Martinez, the 6.5-magnitude earthquake that hit Leyte on Thursday caused minimal damages to their transmission facilities including the Ormoc-Maasin line which serves Bohol.
However, NGCP personnel have yet to fully determine whether all systems will function accordingly once these are energized.
“There’s no problem in the Ormoc-Maasin line, but we will know for certain once the line is activated as currently we cannot completely assess since it’s not yet operating,” said Martinez.
In the quake’s aftermath, NGCP focused on three temporary solutions to the current power outages in Visayas including the establishment of the bypass line and the repair of the HVDC Leyte-Luzon line.
“Our HVDC converter station was also damaged by the earthquake. That’s why supply is really unavailable for Leyte, Samar and Bohol because we are not getting anything from Luzon and geothermal plants,” said Martinez.
The HVDC line is a direct high-voltage current transmission link between geothermal power plants in Leyte and southern Luzon, particularly Naga.
“We are simultaneously working on the HVDC link and the bypass. We are focusing on three major works now, and these are temporary in nature,” she added.
Meanwhile, the NGCP also started repairs of a leaning tower of the Ormoc-Tongonan 138-kV line for its temporary use.
The line was the direct link between Tongonan power plant and the Ormoc substation, said Martinez.
For its part, the Energy Development Corp. (EDC) has suspended operations of its power plants spread across 14,000 ha. in Tongonan.
In a statement issued Friday, EDC president Ricky Tantoco said that they are still assessing damages incurred by their facilities due to the tremor.
“We have mobilized our team of contractors who will be working 24/7, as may be permitted by safety considerations given that aftershocks are still being felt, to have the marshaling stations back in operation in 3 to 5 days,” he added.
Bohol has been drawing energy from one of the EDC’s temporarily closed geothermal power plants which has been the province’s main electricity source.