NGCP says power restoration in Bohol, Southern Leyte still a ‘challenge’

While power has been restored in several provinces two weeks after the onslaught of Typhoon Odette, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said on Wednesday that restoration in Bohol and Southern Leyte remains a challenge for them.

In a Super Radyo dzBB interview, NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said that they have deployed about 1,100 personnel on the ground to speed up the repair of power lines and towers in these areas.

“Ito talaga ‘yung challenge dahil nga ang dami talagang toreng apektado rito. Dito ‘yung kumbaga bulto ng pinsala,” she said.

(This is really a challenge for us because lots of towers were affected. This is where the bulk of damage from Typhoon Odette is seen.)

Alabanza said they tried to partially restore power in an area going to Tagbilaran City, Bohol but there had been problems with the generation or supply of electricity.

“Sa bagama’t meron na pong buong linya sana na makapagdadala ng kuryente, wala namang maihatid na suplay,” she said.

(While there could’ve been a transmission line that could bring electricity, there is no supply.)

The NGCP then has to transfer the lines to another area in the province where there is a power barge to help supply electricity. However, Alabanza emphasized that the Power Barge 104 could not supply for the whole Bohol, thus they are looking for alternatives such as bringing more power barges in the island.

In an ANC interview, Bohol Governor Arthur Yap said they were already pressuring the NGCP to bring in power barges as they could not give the local government a commitment as to when they could put up the towers affected.

“We have to draw power from power barges and generators and even those require exemptions from the DOE and the ERC. We’re nearing New Year right now and we’re working frantically, very hard to hopefully have those connections and generators in place,” Yap said.

He added that only about 10% of Bohol’s population has access to generators and supplies of these generators are currently out of stock, thus they have to get from the National Capital Region or other provinces.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Sunday also appealed for donations of generator sets (gensets) as power services remain a problem in the province.

Alabanza explained that Bohol's bulk power supply is dependent on Leyte and other parts of Visayas. Since there are a lot of islands in this geographical area, the interconnectivity in these two Odette-stricken provinces may take a while.

While waiting for this, the province may thus have to rely on in-island sources or islanding operations, she added.

“‘Yung sa Bohol ang target namin is ‘yung tinatawag nating islanding operation—‘yung maguulang ng koneksyon sa loob ng isla para kung merong power plant na gumagana do’n ay maikonekta natin without having to rely on ‘yung connection niya sa Leyte,” she said.

(Our target for Bohol is the islanding operation—getting a connection inside the island, if there is a working power plant there, without having to rely on the connection with Leyte.

The NGCP’s target for the said islanding operation is on December 31.

Meanwhile, Alabanza said that the challenge in Southern Leyte is finding resources such as facilities where their linemen could take shelter, on top of restoring the affected electric posts.

“Wala hong toreng bumagsak sa Southern Leyte pero higit 100, almost 200 ang posteng bumagsak diyan sa lugar na ‘yan,” she said.

(There was no tower that collapsed in Southern Leyte but a lot of electric posts fell down.)

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said that since Typhoon Odette hit Southern Leyte, there is still no power supply and internet signal in there. Mobile communication and water supply are also only accessible in some areas.

Alabanza stressed that even if they had big facilities in NGCP, about 800 of their posts still fell down. Distribution facilities might have then seen more damage in their own facilities.

“‘Yung target namin to restore ‘yung interconnection between Bohol and Southern Leyte ay ‘yan hindi pa natin medyo masabi kasi meron tayong napakataas na struktura diyan na hindi pangkaraniwan kaya nahihirapan kaming maglagay ng mga temporary towers,” she added.

(We can’t say yet when we could restore the interconnection between Bohol and Southern Leyte because we have tall structures there that are not ordinary, thus we are having a hard time to place temporary towers there.)

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on Sunday said that authorities are aiming to fully restore the electricity in Odette-hit regions by February 2022.—AOL, GMA News