Meralco asks ERC to approve replacement of transformer

By Lenie Lectura – January 17, 2019
from Business Mirror

THE Mania Electric Co. (Meralco) filed an application before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for approval of the emergency replacement of a power transformer located at its Tagaytay substation.

“Applicant seeks approval of its emergency replacement of one 33MVA, 110kV-13.8kV, three-phase power transformer with On-Load Tap Changer at the Tagaytay substation for the replacement of the defective power transformer bank no. 1,” said the utility firm in its January 11 application.

Meralco said this undertaking is listed under the company’s emergency capital expenditure projects or those that require immediate implementation during an event that is not a force majeure in order to maintain safe, reliable and efficient operation of the power system.

However, for purposes of recovering the capital cost of the said emergency project through Meralco’s rates, the same will go through the process of evaluation by the ERC. The total cost for the emergency replacement of the power transformer is P44,756,417.04.

Meralco said the long Tagaytay power transformer bank no. 1 was tripped out last November. Meralco opted to temporary transfer its loads to the adjoining transformer banks. However, this temporary solution resulted in critical loading of the adjoining transformer banks.

“With critical loading of said power transformers, any outage thereof would have resulted to prolonged and massive interruption in the towns of Indang, Amadeo, Silang, Cavite, Tagayatay City and Tres Martires, Cavite,” it said, adding that an outage would have critically affected the supply of electricity to vital customers in said areas, such as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas training facility, Philippine Public Safety College, Filinvest Land Inc., Ayala Land Inc., Alveo Land Corp. and Globe Telecom.

Considering that risks posed by shifting the loads to the adjoining power transformers, Meralco replaced the defective Tagaytay power transformer with another transformer pulled out from the Los Baños substation.

“Since this is only an interim solution, the transformer shall be returned to Los Baños substation as soon as the new power transformer arrives,” it said.