Bohol, Samar islands, Southern Leyte suffer total power loss – NGCP

The islands of Bohol, Samar, and Southern Leyte are suffering total loss of electricity after the region was rocked by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that hit Jaro, Leyte Thursday afternoon, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) reported on Friday.

"There is a complete loss of power in Bohol and Samar islands, and Southern Leyte," the NGCP said in a statement.

"Due to supply deficiency caused by the outage of power plants located in Leyte, customers in Cebu, Negros, and Panay may also suffer occasional power interruptions," the grid operator noted.

In a separate disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the Energy Development Corp. (EDC) said Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plants – which generate over 500 megawatts – tripped following the tremor that struck at 4:03 p.m. Thursday.

The NGCP sent a line team to Unified Leyte's Kananga Switchyard, owned by EDC, to help restore and assess possible ways of extending power from the Tabango Substation to Ormoc Substation.

The NGCP said the Ormoc high-voltage, direct current (HVDC) power transmission systems and Ormoc Substation were also damaged. A transmission tower along the 138-kilovolt Ormoc-Togonan Line was also found to be leaning.

"NGCP has also mobilized six line gangs to temporarily restore the Ormoc-Togonan 138 kV Line," it said.

The grid operator noted that its Cebu-Leyte submarine cable, and its Tabango Substation in Leyte continue to transmit power to the Leyte V Electric Cooperative, Inc. (LEYECO V), which serves the municipalities of Tabango, San Isidro, and Villaba.

"As of 10 a.m.,  NGCP is currently conducting aerial and ground patrols to inspect and assess areas affected by the earthquake which occurred at 4:03 p.m. on July 6," the grid operator said.

"NGCP assures the public that it is continuously monitoring the situation and will provide more updates as new information is available," it said. — VDS, GMA News