PAGADIAN CITY, November 23 - - In a move to increase the
reliability of the entire Mindanao Grid, the National Grid Corporation of the
Philippines (NGCP) recently upgraded its control system for the Balo-i
Substation in Lanao del Norte.
Since NGCP and its technical partner State Grid Corporation
of China (SGCC) started working together in 2009, many changes have been
implemented in terms of systematically improving operations and management to
build a stronger power grid.
The installation of state-of-the-art computer technology of
a microprocessor-based substation control (MBSC) in Balo-i is just one of these
improvements that aim to enhance system reliability and efficiency in NGCP
substations. The upgrade is expected to result to a lower number of undesired
line trippings in the area.
With the MBSC in place, old manual substation operations in
Balo-I have been replaced with computerized operations.
The MBSC works in tandem with protection relay, supervisory
control and data acquisition (SCADA), and anti-fire systems to boost the
overall security and reliability of the substation and improve flexibility in
transmitting Mindanao’s power supply requirements.
Mindanao Operation and Maintenance Head for District 2 Mr.
Eric Vincent Cariaga explained that “The whole system of the Mindanao Grid will
benefit from the Balo-i Substation MBSC Project because the bulk of the power
generated from the Agus Complex come in to Balo-i Substation. NGCP recognizes
the importance of transmitting this bulk power to the different parts of
Mindanao with high efficiency and reliability.”
The inauguration ceremony for the substation’s MBSC was held
last November 9 with the presence of NGCP’s top officers from the technical,
operation and maintenance, and support services groups. (Elizabeth A. Ladaga/NGCP/PIA9/ALT)