Power outage to hit Bohol

CEBU, Philippines- Boholanos will experience an 11-hour power outage on Saturday because of the scheduled annual preventive maintenance of the National Grid Corporation in its Ubay Substation and Tugas Cable Terminal Station.

In an advisory, NGCP advised the public that the 138kV Maasin-Ubay line will be shut down from 6 a.m. until 5 p.m.

This will affect the entire Bohol Island province including consumers of Bohol Light Company, Incorporated (BLCI); Bohol Electric Cooperative, Incorporated (BOHECO) I and II.

The annual preventive maintenance is for its 100 mega volt ampere (MVA) and 5 MVA transformers, 15 MVA shunt reactor and 138 kV switchyard equipment at Ubay Substation and Tugas Cable Terminal Station, including high voltage equipment and line protection relays.

A shunt reactor, an absorber of reactive power, thus increasing the energy efficiency of the system, is the most compact device commonly used for reactive power compensation in long high-voltage transmission lines and in cable systems.

Last February 19, the entire Visayas encountered massive power outage from 1 a.m. until 9 a.m. Cebu Province recovered at 6 a.m. after Visayas Electric Company turned to island mode and utilized supply from Cebu power plants.

The NGCP has yet to release an explanation on what caused the power outage. More scheduled preventive maintenance shutdown of power plants has been expected specifically this summer.

The Department of Energy earlier assured that there is ample power supply in the Visayas including Cebu but admitted that the region does not have "much" power reserves. — /FPL (FREEMAN)