EDITORIAL - Circuit breaker
There is a marked increase in COVID transmission in Metro Manila, but it cannot be described yet as a surge, according to health officials. And without a surge, the officials see no need for a two-week “hard lockdown” that the OCTA Research Group is suggesting to nip in the bud the spread of the more virulent Delta variant......»»
Outages, no wonder
Going by the timeframe that electricity network concessionaire National Grid Corp. of the Philippines or NGCP had presented to the government, the oppressive yellow and red alerts on peak demand periods will end by next month. In a recent statement, the NGCP said more consumers benefited from lower power rates and “better services” since private companies took over transmission operations from the government in 2009. The claim was that its investments had led to a 77-percent decline in transmission outages in the country. NGCP’s statement presented the idea that had the private contractor followed all the requirements in its 2009 contract, problems in the power network would be a thing of the past. The private firm, however, has a sordid record when it comes to keeping its commitments in the concession agreement. It pledged to the Department of Energy that the Visayas-Mindanao interconnection will be completed by next month which the energy department said would immediately add 450 megawatts to the Visayas region. NGCP also indicated that the Cebu-Negros-Panay interconnection will be completed by 30 June. Energy officials estimated that the Visayas region will have more available power with the interconnection plan as a result of the huge volume of stranded power among the islands. The DoE’s rule of thumb is that for every one-degree increase in temperature, around 100 megawatts of additional power would be needed, which explains sudden shortfalls, particularly when it triggers power plant shutdowns. The delayed projects along with the absence of reserve power, thus, has resulted in the predictable alerts when the weather temperature simmers. Another project, albeit delayed, is the Bataan-Pagbilao interconnection with more than 1,000 megawatts, or electricity equivalent to about two heavy power plants that could prevent brownouts in the Luzon grid within the immediate future. NGCP has a long list of pending projects — 32 in Luzon, 39 in the Visayas and 12 in Mindanao — that all affect the supply levels in the regions. Even the worn-out excuse that the projects were delayed because of the pandemic does not hold up since all of these were committed to being completed before the global health emergency happened. An automatic load drop which acts like a circuit breaker is triggered whenever the power supply falls short of demand and the reserve can’t plug the deficit. The procedure is necessary to prevent the tripping of a large plant. NGCP has consistently tried to deflect the blame for the frequent electricity shortage by pointing its finger at the DoE, saying that it has not done enough to bid out new contracts to suppliers. Experts, however, said NGCP contributes to low supply because it cannot complete its transmission projects on time. NGCP also tries to frighten consumers by saying that complying with its contract commitments will mean higher prices for electricity. “These projects involve building transmission lines to power plants so that they can start operating to produce power for the benefit of consumers,” an expert noted. Even before the pandemic, the DoE had been seeking transparency from NGCP and had badgered the private group about securing firm ancillary services. Another excuse for project delays was right-of-way issues that NGCP can’t invoke since its franchise gives it the power to expropriate that the consortium of taipans had abused. An energy official said the purchase of properties were made without informing the National Transmission Corp. or Transco which owns the electricity backbone. They acquired the properties in their name which is against the law. Will wonders never cease for the National Transmission Corp. contractor who seems to have grown too big, in its influence, for comfort? The post Outages, no wonder appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
New projects boost power supply in Calamba, Laguna
The Manila Electric Company and STMicroelectronics Inc., the largest European semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company in the country, recently inaugurated the new 115 kV Gas-Insulated Switchgear substation located at Light Industry and Science Park 2 in Calamba City, Laguna. The new substation will facilitate the upgrading of STMI’s electric service from 34.5 kV to 115 kV and accommodate its growing demand, which is projected to increase to 20 megawatts by 2027 from 14 MW last year. The facility houses one 115 kV High-Voltage Gas-Insulated Switchgear, two 30 MVA Power Transformers, one 4.16 kV Medium-Voltage Switchgear, two 750 kVAr capacitor banks and various protective devices. Besides the new substation, Meralco also recently commissioned the new La Mesa 115 kV Switching Station, also within the LISP 2. This project, which will improve the system reliability and power quality in the area, consists of a gas circuit breaker, three sets of disconnect switches, and standard connection and metering facilities for the Philippine office of STMI. “These projects are expected to address not only the limited power supply of ST Calamba, which is one of our highest operational risks, but also our future power supply demand, our power quality, our carbon neutrality strategy, and will definitely improve our site power resilience,” STMI vice president and general manager Yong Suk Kwon said. [caption id="attachment_137883" align="aligncenter" width="525"] (From left) Meralco FVP and chief commercial officer Ferdinand O. Geluz, STMI VP and general manager Yong Suk Kwon, and Meralco SVP and head of networks Ronnie L. Aperocho.[/caption] Meralco’s continuing efforts to meet the requirements of industrial customers form part of the distribution utility’s commitment to contribute to improving the country’s infrastructure and ensuring energy security which fall under the government’s socioeconomic agenda, according to Meralco senior vice president and head of networks Ronnie L. Aperocho. “This new STMI Substation along with our new La Mesa Switching Station is designed to support the growing power requirements of STMI’s Philippine office through the delivery of safe, adequate, reliable, and high-quality electricity service, which is consistent with our commitment to our more than 7.6 million customers,” he said. The timely energization of these electric distribution facilities was made possible by the collaboration of One Meralco through its subsidiaries MServ, one of the largest energy service companies in the Philippines, and MIESCOR, one of the country’s leading service providers of engineering, construction and maintenance service. The new La Mesa 115kV Switching Station was commissioned in conjunction with the energization of STMI’s GIS Substation in LISP 2, Calamba City, Laguna and shall accommodate the projected increase in its demand from 14MW to 20MW by 2027. The post New projects boost power supply in Calamba, Laguna appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
NGCP conducts skills exhibition
The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines recently conducted the Substation Operation, Maintenance and Testing Skills Exhibition in its Mexico Substation as part of its ongoing efforts to promote excellence in its operations. The activity, which was last held in 2015, brought together more than 100 personnel from NGCP’s Operations and Maintenance department for the three-day gathering to display skills, exchange best practices, hone technical competencies and foster camaraderie. The event dubbed as “Kagalingan sa Pagtupad ng Tungkulin” or Excellence in Task Performance, featured technical presentations on current and power transformer testing, transformer differential relay setting, power circuit breaker testing, and battery bank testing, while exhibitions of different groups include emergency shutdown procedures, inspection, maintenance, testing, and commissioning of transformers and other substation equipment. “We are happy to be able to conduct this activity after years of being constrained to online activities. The talents demonstrated during the Substation Operation, Maintenance, and Testing Skills Exhibition are learning experiences which we can use in effectively and efficiently maintaining the country’s transmission grid,” said the NGCP in a statement. The post NGCP conducts skills exhibition appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Still unclear why air traffic system went down but cybercrime center not ruling out cyberattack
Senate panels ended Thursday their first hearing into the New Year’s Day airspace outage without finding a reason why the technical failure — which transportation officials attributed to a faulty circuit breaker — happened in the first place......»»
Lockdown in August to help buy time for vaccination, says Palace adviser
An early circuit-breaker lockdown, such as the one President Duterte just approved, will prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease among the unvaccinated......»»
EDITORIAL - Circuit breaker
There is a marked increase in COVID transmission in Metro Manila, but it cannot be described yet as a surge, according to health officials. And without a surge, the officials see no need for a two-week “hard lockdown” that the OCTA Research Group is suggesting to nip in the bud the spread of the more virulent Delta variant......»»
EDITORIAL - Back to ECQ
After rejecting proposals for a “circuit breaker lockdown” or a “one-time, big-time” two-week lockdown coinciding with the Holy Week break to stop the COVID surge, the government has reverted the National Capital Region and four adjacent provinces to the strictest enhanced community quarantine......»»
Circuit breaker
We don’t know whether to laugh or cry over the progress of our battle against COVID-19. Even the ghosts from the Ghost Month that just ended must be as confused as we are......»»
ONE Championship set to return to live events in July
After around four months of not being able to hold major live events, Asian martial arts promotion ONE Championship will once again be putting their brand of action on display. ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced Friday evening that ONE will be returning to Thailand for ONE: NO SURRENDER, scheduled for Friday, July 31st. This comes off the heels of ONE's official return to action last weekend wherein they taped ONE Hero Series 13 and 14 in Shanghai, China. "After a successful ONE Hero Series 13 and 14 in China last weekend, ONE Championship will now kick off our flagship event schedule with ONE: No Surrender on July 31 in Thailand!" Sityodtong wrote. This will be ONE's first live major event since their KING OF THE JUNGLE card last February 28th in Singapore, which was their first event to feature a closed-door, audience-free format as a way to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. ONE initially planned on putting on shows in Singapore throughout March and April, but eventually had to cancel the events due to Singapore's 'Circuit Breaker' lockdown as well as other restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. NO SURRENDER will feature the same closed-door, audience-free format, said Sityodtong. "ONE: No Surrender will be a closed-door, audience-free stadium event for live global broadcast." Apart from the event itself, Sityodtong added that there will be 12 extra bouts to signal the launch of the new ONE Dark Series, a taped card for global broadcast partners. "We will also be holding 12 extra fights on that day for the newly-launched ONE Dark Series, a taped first-air product for our broadcast partners around the world," Sityodtong shared. .....»»
EDITORIAL - Finally, plastic license cards
It says a lot about the quality of governance and ease of doing business in this country that it takes forever just to obtain a plastic driver’s license card......»»
EDITORIAL — An endangered lake
In January this year, President Marcos directed the Department of Agriculture to increase fish production to meet the national demand......»»
EDITORIAL — The cost of negligence
As of early evening yesterday, the death toll from a vehicular collision in Cotabato stood at 17, with four others needing hospitalization for injuries and severe burns......»»
EDITORIAL — Irresponsible driving
As travel increases this Holy Week, motorists are expressing concern about a road accident this month that penalized an innocent driver. Video footage showed a Toyota Innova traversing the northbound lane of the Skyway Stage 3 on March 10 when a motorcycle moving beyond the speed limit counter-flowed, colliding head-on with the Innova......»»
EDITORIAL — Next, speedy justice
After a year of being on the run, Arnolfo Teves Jr. is finally being brought back to the country to face multiple indictments for serious offenses. Teves was arrested Thursday in East Timor’s capital Dili by local police. He had been hiding in plain sight in Timor-Leste, occasionally posting videos taunting Philippine authorities who wanted him for multiple murder cases......»»
EDITORIAL — Lights off for one shared home
Since the first Earth Hour was staged in 2007, participation in the event has grown exponentially......»»
EDITORIAL - Under lock and key
The Civil Service Commission has reminded all government officials and employees of the April 30 deadline to submit their sworn Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth for 2023......»»
Kamote escort = law breaker
One of our readers shared an interesting story that many people in Metro Manila don’t often experience or know about......»»
Cua, Fuertes continue winning ways in PPS Bansalan netfest
Dhea Cua continued to flaunt her exceptional skills in the Davao region swing of the PPS-PEPP junior tennis circuit, scoring another double victory in the girls’ 16- and 18-and-under categories in the Gov. Yvonne Cagas Championships......»»
Guadalupe fire: Unattended cooking, electrical short circuit eyed as possible causes
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Fire investigators are considering unattended cooking and electrical short circuit as the possible causes of the fire that broke out in a roadside home in Brgy. Guadalupe, Cebu City on Thursday. Senior Fire Officer 2 (SFO2) Wendell Villanueva, the public information officer of the Cebu City Fire Station (CCFS), said they.....»»
Cua seeks to extend PPS run in Bansalan
Dhea Cua builds up for a big performance on her home turf next week as she aims for another impressive two-title run in the Palawan Pawnshop national junior tennis circuit’s Gov. Yvonne Cagas Championship unfolding today at the Bansalan Tennis Club in Davao del Sur......»»