REHAB ON FULL BLAST: MORE Power’s new mobile substation to hasten repair, restoration of old facilities

By John Noel E. Herrera

Iloilo City is now home to one of the most modern power facilities acquired by sole distributor MORE Electric and Power Corp.

On Friday, MORE Power officials unveiled to the media its newly acquired 30/36 megavolt-ampere (MVA) mobile substation in its Molo facility.

The power distributor acquired the mobile substation from Turkey. It was manufactured by Aktif Elektroteknik and supplied by EEI Power Corporation.

Engr. Wilmar Gonzaludo, MORE Power Project Manager-Substations, said the substation’s major components such as the power transformer and switchgears were all made in Italy and Germany. The facility was assembled by Aktif which has a 40-year experience manufacturing electrical equipment and mobile substations.

To recall, MORE Power engineers and legal team went to Turkey in June 2022 to conduct a Factory Acceptance Test of the substation at Aktif’s factory.

According to MORE Power, the new substation is one of the complete, standalone facilities that does not require additional construction to make it run. The substation has both the 69 kilovolt (kV) and secondary 13.2 kV sides which do not make it reliant on additional construction and equipment to be operational.

The substation can fit in two trailers because of its compact gas-insulated switchgear from Siemens of Germany which is being used for five 13.2 kV feeders.

Another unique and compact feature of the substation is its state-of-the-art PASS M00 system where major parts of the 69 kV equipment can fit in one package – power circuit breaker, current transformers, potential transformer, disconnect switches, and control elements.

PASS M00 was manufactured by ABB of Italy, another reputable electrical equipment manufacturer in the world.

The new mobile substation arrived middle of last week and was brought to MORE Power’s Molo Substation.

The mobile facility will serve as temporary backup during the total rehabilitation of old land-based substations which is seen to take eight months to a year.

The mobile substation will ensure the continuous supply of power to consumers while existing substations are being rehabilitated which will require their shutting down.

This is the second mobile substation that MORE Power acquired, the first being at the Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao. The acquisitions are part of the firm’s 5-year modernization of the city’s distribution grid.