TOTAL OVERHAUL: MORE Power rushes repairs, upgrades of decrepit facilities

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

MORE Electric and Power Corp. continues to upgrade the dilapidated facilities and equipment of Iloilo City’s distribution system.

For one, MORE Power said it has replaced more than 130 distribution transformers in the first three months of its operation as the city’s distribution utility.

A distribution transformer is the type of transformer that performs the last voltage conversion in a distribution grid. It converts the voltage used in the transmission lines to one suitable for household and commercial use, typically down to 220 to 240 volts, depending on the requirements of a service area.

The old transformers that were installed by the previous distribution firm Panay Electric Co. (PECO) were replaced to avoid explosions which could lead to widespread and unexpected brownouts in the city.

Based on the assessment data provided by MORE Power, the most common reasons for the replacement of the transformers are:

-Dilapidated and were only reconditioned and repainted.

-Overloaded due to numerous “jumpers” or illegal connections that were never profiled or included in the city’s load capacity.

-Leaking with oil that serves as insulator or coolant of transformers

-Damaged or burnt due to constant short circuits.

MORE Power president Roel Castro had said that even before they handled the distribution services, they already conducted thermal scanning of the distribution network and they found out almost 900 “hot spots” that need corrections and repairs to avert more widespread and prolonged brownouts.

So far, MORE Power said they have installed 138 brand new distribution transformers that have higher capacity and can cope with the burgeoning demand for electricity in the city.

Apart from the transformers, MORE Power also replaced 100 rotting wooden electric poles with concrete ones to protect the system and the public as well from falling poles.

“We continue to correct, repair, and replace the rotting distribution facilities and we need to cut the power supply while we are doing this. We beseech your understanding and cooperation for the inconveniences that our repair works cause. And some brownouts are caused by facilities and equipments that we have yet to correct. For that we apologize even as we seek your support by reporting the outages so we can respond immediately,” Castro said.

Castro said unscheduled and unannounced power outages can be attributed to the combination of high demand for electricity amid the summer season and the conking out of dilapidated equipment.

“But we assure our consumers of immediate response to these unexpected brownouts so we can hasten the restoration of supply,” he added.

MORE Power also replaced and installed close to 11,000 brand new electric meters free of charge.

Castro said the new meters passed the standards set by Energy Regulatory Commission for more accurate consumption reading, thus averting erroneous billing on the part of consumers.

The target of the MORE KOREK Program is to replace the identified 15,000 ageing and defective meters. This will ensure the accuracy of the kilowatt-hour used by the consumers and lessen the systems losses which legitimate consumers shoulder.

 

LOOP SYSTEM AND JUMPERS

MORE Power said it is also addressing the problem of jumpers or illegal connections which overload the distribution system.

Castro said illegal connections do not just burden legitimate consumers who pay for stolen electricity by way of the so-called systems loss but it also takes toll on the system as they are never included in the demand profile of Iloilo City.

“We already streamlined the application of new connections in coordination with the local government so that more jumpers, particularly informal settlers, will be enticed to apply for connections. Aside from that, most of the jumpers found out that they will pay less for their supply because we reduced to rates to at least P9 per kilowatt-hour compared to P15 they paid to individuals who perpetuate the illegal connections,” Castro added.

Part of MORE Power’s 3-year modernization project is to install a looping system in the 69-kilovolt sub-transmission facility to provide backup power supply whenever the firm conducts preventive maintenance and repairs of the substations around the city.

In electrical engineering, a loop system rings through the service area and returns to the original point. The loop is usually tied to an alternate power source.

By placing switches in strategic locations, the utility can supply power to the customer from either direction, thus improving the stability of the system and minimizes outages.

So far, MORE Power has completed the repairs of the Jaro and City Proper substations in May while the remaining three substations will undergo the same works in the coming weeks.

Castro said they will expand the capacity of power transformers in the following substations:

-additional 50 megavolt-ampere (MVA) in Mandurriao, which is the newest growth area in the city;

-upgrade the Jaro substation from 10MVA to 30MVA;

– upgrade the City Proper substation from 20MVA to 50MVA.

Apart from correcting the load demand of each substation, the improvements will also prepare the distribution system for the growing demand for power in the next 5 to 10 years.

MORE Power is also expecting the arrival of a 10MVA mobile substation which will be used durin the repairs and maintenance of stationary substations and feeders.

Also part of the modernization program is the installation of the Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) which was never introduced by the previous distribution utility.

SCADA is an industrial control system used in many modern industries like energy to organize multiple technologies that allows to process, gather and monitor data at the same time to send instructions to those points that transmit data.

Castro said SCADA will help them monitor faults in the distribution system for faster response and avert widespread brownouts.

“If we have that system, we can automatically identify the fault and isolate an area where the outage will occur with the click of the computer mouse. That will spare the rest of the distribution system from massive and cascading brownouts. SCADA will only be useful if we improve the old distribution system to the loop system because we will have automated switches, not the outdated mechanical ones used by the previous management,” he added.