MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, March 27 (PIA) --- The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) asked the help of media practitioners in the two Lanao provinces in raising awareness on the impact of right-of-way (ROW) violations to the integrity of the grid in Mindanao.
The intentional planting of trees under and along power lines has an adverse effect on the power system in Mindanao, said Emmanuel Abellanosa, head of NGCP Mindanao Operations & Maintenance (MOM) Regional Office during the media orientation on ROW violations in Lanao, Thursday, March 26.
Vegetation can cause power interruption of the lines which can lead to brownouts or blackouts. Industrial customers also suffer production losses due to power outages and voltage dips.
At present, there are already three power lines out of operation due to the vegetation problems. The Baloi-Agus 6 69kV Line was no longer functioning since January 2015 while the Baloi-Agus 2 138kV Line 1 and 2 was out of operation since August and October last year, respectively.
According to NGCP, Agus 1 and Agus 2 hydroelectric (HE) plants are in danger of being isolated from the grid because the only link that they have to the grid is thru the Agus 2-Kibawe 138 kV lines. When these lines trip, Agus 1 and Agus 2 HE plants will be isolated and cannot generate power, thus, more shortage of power.
We have already asked the help of various stakeholders, from the local government units, military, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) but were unsuccessful. They said it was so hard to convince landowners to settle down with our estimates, Abellanosa added.
NGCP has been dealing with the ROW problems since it took over the operations of the country’s electric business.
There were only few ROW problems during the TRANSCO time. But when it was about to be privatized, it was discovered that some landowners started planting trees under transmission lines and refused to be negotiated. When NGCP took over in 2009, ROW problems began to crop, said Mr. Avelino Dawis, head of NGCP District 2 Operations and Maintenance.
He said the landowners are demanding too much before NGCP can cut down their trees that are posing dangers to the power lines.
NGCP has already filed eight expropriation cases.
Dawis said they are also readying to file another 12 cases in the next few days.
But such legal action, he said, entails a long process and the worsening of the ROW problems might affect the stability of the Mindanao grid. (APB/PIA-10)
- See more at: http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1521427382994/ngcp-seeks-media-s-help-to-stir-awareness-on-impact-of-row-violations#sthash.Q1Ik2gkV.dpuf
No comments