THE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said on Thursday that it has restored and energized the Tugaya-Malabang 69-kiloVolt line, which services the Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative (Lasureco).
The line, commissioned in 1995, has been constantly besieged by malicious and destructive acts since 2012, including bombing attempts and rampant pilferage of tower parts. NGCP’s efforts to restore the line after each incident has been thwarted by still-unknown saboteurs, who continued to wreak havoc throughout the company’s restoration activities.
In February 2018, with the situation reaching critical levels, NGCP took further action to strengthen its efforts at keeping the saboteurs at bay. NGCP stepped up its engagement with different local government units in the area, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, Lasureco, and the Royal Sultanate League of Lanao del Sur. With their aid and support in the safety, security and swift implementation of the restoration project, NGCP was confident of its successful restoration.
With over 200 of NGCP’s line personnel working nonstop, the company was able to erect 28 new transmission poles along the line, replacing the 13 previously toppled structures. NGCP was also able to replace 25,910 meters of transmission line conductor cables, recondition towers, which were leaning or had missing parts, and conduct a massive clearing operation along the right-of-way corridor of the entire line.
The grid operator said the restoration was completed on April 20, or 25 days ahead of the Department of Energy’s target date of May 15. NGCP is currently waiting for Lasureco to energize their own facilities and connect to the said line.
“We wanted to let the Lanao del Sur community know that we are always moving towards giving them sustainable power transmission services, despite the difficulties presented by the peace and order issues in the area. As transmission service provider, we will go through all lengths and exhaust all means of restoring the line,” NGCP stated.
“Through the combined efforts of all our line personnel and the various stakeholders who supported us, the restoration was completed, to the great benefit of power customers in Mindanao,” said NGCP.