High tides disrupt Aklan power bypass lines

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

Aklan towns, including Boracay Island, experienced a series of unplanned power interruptions from Dec. 4 to 7 after the 69-kilovolt (kV) bypass transmission line repeatedly tripped due to wave splashes during high tide.

The disturbances began on Dec. 4 when the 69kV sub-transmission line in Unidos, Nabas, first tripped, plunging the towns of Buruanga, Malay, and parts of Nabas into darkness.

Another tripping of the same line occurred on Dec. 5, again affecting the Caticlan and Boracay substations.

The Aklan Electric Cooperative (AKELCO) later determined that water splashes were reaching the 800-meter overhead temporary bypass line at Brgy. Union in Nabas, causing the recurring outages.

By Dec. 6, the disturbances extended to Kalibo when feeder 2B of the Kalibo substation tripped.

Later that afternoon, feeder 2A also went offline due to a damaged cutout in Old Buswang.

That evening, another major outage hit the tourism corridor when the 69kV transmission line supplying Caticlan and Boracay again went offline.

AKELCO said it decided to acquire silicon insulation sleeves through emergency procurement to reduce or prevent further power interruptions while the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) works on a permanent solution.

On Dec. 7, AKELCO and NGCP deployed combined teams to accelerate stabilization efforts.

Work is ongoing on the installation of 900 feet of silicon insulation sleeves on the 69kV bypass line in Union, Nabas, scheduled as a ride-on activity to NGCP’s maintenance operations.

AKELCO said NGCP is completing its procurement process for the construction of another cable trench to ensure long-term power stability in Aklan.

The bypass line was built as a temporary overhead solution to replace irreparably damaged underground power cables near Caticlan Airport, allowing electricity restoration to Boracay Island, Malay, and Buruanga.

The measure followed an outage in September when the Nabas–Unidos 69kV line tripped due to arcing in underground sub-transmission cables at the Caticlan Airport arrival area, caused by moisture intrusion and leakage that made immediate repairs infeasible.