National Grid bares major physical and technological upgrades
by Alena Mae S. Flores – April 18, 2017 at 09:01 pm
from Manila Standard Today
National Grid Corp. of the Philippines on Tuesday said it has introduced major physical and technological upgrades to aging state-owned lines and facilities since taking over the operations of the country’s power transmission network in 2009.
National Grid president and chief executive officer Henry Sy Jr. said the company was committed to modernizing and creating a grid at par with its counterparts in Southeast Asia.
“At NGCP, we dream big, so we can be big. There are no two ways about it. Apart from a unified power grid, we want to revolutionize our entire transmission network to exceed those of our Asian neighbors. With every technical upgrade, every facility addition, every process modernization, we are getting there. We want to lead the way,” Sy said in a statement.
He said National Grid was committed to ensure the reliability all its facilities. “We want to be the best utility in Southeast Asia,” he said.
“We will begin this journey by upgrading the outdated facilities we inherited from TransCo and putting in place state of the art technology. Our customers can be assured that NGCP is continuously looking to improve its performance across all its functions that are part of its mandate,” he said.
National Grid conducted a physical upgrade of the National Control Center, the heart of its nationwide transmission operations in 2012.
The company introduced Open3000 system replacing the old CRT monitors and unreliable monitoring systems, allowing the synchronized operation of the three main grids (Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao) from only one platform snd the efficient overall monitoring and quick response in case of system faults and grid disturbances.
The system forms the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), a collection of computers, equipment and application software integrated into a system to acquire real-time data on power system parameters and provide monitoring and control facilities for remote devices such as breakers.
National Grid also reinforced the Backup Luzon Regional Control Center, which duplicates the function of the National Control Center and its operations in times of emergency.
Back-up centers are also in place in the Visayas and Mindanao grids, ready to operate should the existing regional control centers be unable to carry their function. At the district level, upgraded District Command Centers manage and administer power transmission services at a provincial level.
