MANILA – The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said it has successfully re-energized lines 1 and 2 of its Binan-Muntinlupa 230kV transmission line which was damaged by fire from homes of informal settlers around the area, but repairs will still continue.
At the same time, NGCP renewed its appeal to local government units and the public, to help protect transmission facilities by respecting right of way and safety clearances.
“They also pose a hazard to the transmission facilities and to the public. We are asking those who are living under our transmission facilities to move to a safer location, away from our lines and towers to ensure that delivery of power to communities remains stable and uninterrupted,” NGCP said in a statement at the weekend, after the re-energizing task was completed as of 10:18AM of April 22, 2017.
“We were able to re-energize Binan-Muntinlupa 230kV lines 1 and 2 just a few hours after we set Tower 34 to its temporary location at the rightmost lane of the Alabang exit. The energization entails full utility of the line and easing the loads of the same facility’s lines 3 and 4,” reported NGCP.
Tower 34 of the said line leaned last April 19 due to a fire caused by informal settlers living underneath the tower.
Although the legs of the tower were extensively damaged due to the fire, the pylon did not topple and did not cause any interruption of transmission services. As a redundancy measure, NGCP transferred the power carried by lines 1 and 2 to lines 3 and 4, ensuring that power service delivery to its customers continues.
Once the fire was extinguished, NGCP immediately mobilized its personnel to assess the extent of the damage while preparing all necessary machinery and resources to expedite the restoration of the tower and re-energization of the line.
From evening April 19 until the morning of April 21, NGCP mobilized cranes to lift the leaning tower and prepared it to be set to its temporary position. The setting of the tower was completed with minimal disruption to traffic passing through the Alabang viaduct, NGCP said.
It thanked the Manila Toll Expressway System (MATES) and local traffic management offices who helped make sure disruptions to motorists and the public are minimized while restoration works are in progress.
“We are very relieved that the repair works have gone smoothly and we have minimized the impact of this accident to our customers, the nearby community, and the public. NGCP wants to make sure that we deliver on our commitment and in 3 days, we have. We would like to thank our dedicated personnel, our partners from MATES, and the local traffic offices who worked round the clock to complete the restoration while ensuring the public’s safety,” stated NGCP.
According to the company, repairs will still continue to construct the permanent structure at the original position.
