More Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) is currently replacing the over 30-year-old 20 Mega Volt-Amp (MVA) transformer in Gen. Luna substation into a bigger 33 MVA transformer to meet the growing power demand of Iloilo City.
Roel Z. Castro, President and COO of MORE Power, announced in a media briefing on Saturday that they have tapped MIESCOR (a subsidiary of Meralco) for the source and commissioning of 33 MVA transformer that is being installed in the Gen. Luna substation.
The total cost of the project is at P50 million.
Castro explained that last week, they turned off the 20 MVA transformer which serves the City Proper area so that installation of 33 MVA can be done. They have to temporarily transfer the loads to other substations such as Mandurriao, Molo, and Lapaz.
Due to increasing power demand brought about by the hot weather and reopening of businesses as health restrictions were lifted, this resulted in power interruptions in some areas.
But the situation is expected to normalize once the installation and commissioning of 33 MVA is finished next week, Castro said.
“Once this transformer gets commissioned by end of next week, mababalik natin ang mga load that were transferred to Molo, Mandurriao, and Lapaz. Even some of the loads from Molo and Lapaz will be transferred in this transformer because the capacity is now bigger, ” Castro said.
Aside from the transformer, MORE Power also upgraded the analog, manual control panel of the substation into an automated, Remote Control Cabinet (RCC) which is ready for the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system.
This is part of the efforts of the firm to digitalize and modernize the distribution system, Castro added.
Richard Ochava, Chief Operating Officer of MIESCOR, further explained that the new control panel can be controlled remotely and can regulate the voltage without any interruption.
“It is future-ready, and maintenance-free. We have already installed vacuum interruptors, so wala ng mga by-products in the operations of tap changer. Ang mga bushings nya are made of polymer, so wala ng mababasag,” Ochava explained.
“Smart-ready na ang mga equipment natin. So, kung makikita na natin ang operations remotely, lahat ng provisions namo-monitor natin properly,” he added.
Castro revealed that MORE Power is currently working on a new 30 MVA substation in the Megaworld area that will be ready around September this year.
“Meaning we have an additional 43 MVA capacity or around 40% increase for this year. That should make our system at substation level more manageable and with breathing space,” Castro said.
