NGCP says work on Bohol’s Leyte power source links complete by February 15

Bohol’s long wait for the return of its Leyte power source links will end by mid-February, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said on Wednesday, February 2.

In a Facebook post, the corporation showed a video of technicians working on six Emergency Restoration System (ERS) towers in the towns of President Carlos P. Garcia (PCPG) and Ubay. (Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story said “state corporation”. We have corrected it to say “corporation”).

At the same time, the NGCP said Bohol distribution firms are drawing enough power from alternative sources to maintain stable transmission to Tagbilaran, the provincial capital.

Bohol 1 Electric Cooperative, Inc., Bohol 2 Electric Cooperative, Inc., and Bohol Light Comp., Inc. increased their February 2 generated load of 4.8 megawatts (MW) to 9 MW on February 3, the NGCP said.

It will connect on Friday, February 4, the 39-kilovolt line in Barangay Popoo, PCPG to its 40-kV line more than a kilometer away in Barangay Union, Ubay.

NGCP Visayas spokesperson Betty Martinez said work is almost complete on the emergency towers and crew are now installing dry wires to stabilize the structures.

Both lines have three 200-ft towers each to substitute for two towers toppled by Typhoon Odette on December 16, 2021.

The destruction of the towers snapped the province’s links to its geothermal power source in Tongonan, Leyte.

Power utilities in the province are temporarily tapping power barges to provide electricity.

The downside of this emergency move could be a surge in power bills for residents of the devastated province because of high fuel cost.

After completing the new tower systems, the NGCP will need three to five days of tests on the Leyte-Bohol 138-kV interconnection line.

But the waiting game could extend anew if tests show damage to the submarine cable between Leyte and Bohol.

The NGCP told Bohol Governor Art Yap a week after Odette’s onslaught that they could return the links by yearend. But in January, a frustrated Yap said he was getting no clear answers from the state corporation on the link restoration work.

Power utility firms across the country responded to Yap’s appeal to help clear roads and repair hundreds of downed power poles.

The NGCP, before the year ended, said Odette had affected 95 facilities or power lines, including 12 towers and 820 transmission poles.

Yap urged distribution firms in the province to speed up repairs so they can maximize the return of power supply from Leyte. – Rappler.com