Meralco to energize more substations

BY LENIE LECTURA – NOVEMBER 2, 2022
from Business Mirror

The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will energize more substations this year in a bid to build a more resilient network.

Meralco Senior Vice President Ronnie Aperocho said the utility firm continued with the expansion and upgrading of its distribution facilities and pole replacement activities to deliver safe, reliable, and adequate electricity service.

“For major load growth projects, we are now in the construction stages of 16 major substations and sub-transmission line projects which are scheduled to be commissioned or energized within the year,” he said.

He added that the relocation of close to 5,000 poles to clear priority Build-Build-Build (BBB) and PPP (Public-Private Partnership) infra and DPWH road-widening projects is still in full swing, including the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road, PNR North 1 Railway, MRT Line 7, and NAIA Expressway-EDSA Tramo projects.

In September, Meralco relocated close to 2,300 poles and there are still around 2,700 that need to be relocated till the end of the year.

For major load growth projects, Meralco commissioned its new Pamplona Uno 115-34.5 kV Gas-Insulated Switchgear (GIS) substation in Las Piñas City. Aperocho said this was part of its 2020 capital expenditure (capex) filing with a budget of P383 million.

“With this project we have already relieved the critical loading of nearby Pamplona power transformer banks 1 and 2. And this also provides the needed capacity to accommodate the increasing power requirements in Las Piñas and Parañaque cities.”

Meralco also said it has completed the uprating of Biñan –San Pedro 115kV line in Laguna.

Last month, the company said it expects to surpass last year’s core income of P24.6 billion after it posted P19.6 billion in core income in January to September.

“Despite the challenges the country is currently facing, including elevated food and energy prices, Meralco expects power demand to continue growing, which makes the energy sector maintain its critical role in supporting economic growth and progress.

“As we anticipate robust pandemic recovery efforts, there is good indication that Meralco will surpass our 2021 CCNI (Consolidated Core Net Income),” Meralco Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said.

CCNI for the nine months ending September rose by 9 percent to P19.6 billion from P18.1 billion in the same period last year with the sustained growth in energy sales and higher earnings of its power generation business from projects both locally and in Singapore.

Reported net income, meanwhile, went up by 20 percent to P19.8 billion from P16.5 billion in 2021.