Ficelco line trouble blamed for blackouts

Last week’s string of power outages that enraged consumers were blamed on defects along the main distribution line of the First Catanduanes Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Ficelco)

The island-wide blackouts began at 10:03 PM of July 18, followed by 10 more the next day (July 19) at the following times: 12:45 A.M., 1:12 A.M., 2:25 A.M., 2:29 A.M., 3:03 A.M., 5:25 A.M., 5:42 A.M., 8:35 A.M., 10:26 A.M. and 10:38 A.M. The last three outages occurred just five minutes after Ficelco OIC-general manager Rodolfo Mendoza vowed live on DZVC Radyo ng Bayan that there would be no more brownouts as the coop linemen had already solved the problem.

Another string of four brownouts hit the Catanduanes grid on July 21: 4:43 A.M., 4:48 A.M., 5:35 A.M. and 7:32 AM. These were blamed on a burnt transformer at Palawig, San Andres, also along the main distribution line from Hitoma I.

Industry sources said power officials initially blamed the July 18-19 interruptions on unbalanced voltage at the Hitoma I Mini-Hydroelectric Power Plant but linemen eventually traced the fault to a cracked pin-type insulator at Palta, Virac, along the main line from Hitoma I.

The day before, Ficelco had implemented load shedding or scheduled brownouts at Feeder 3 from Viga to Pandan, due to low water levels at the three hydro plants that reduced their combined power output to just 600 kilowatts. This was followed by load shedding along Feeder 2 from Baras to Bagamanoc.

The preventive maintenance shutdown of the 3.6-megawatt bunker fuel genset of the Catanduanes Power Generation Inc. (CPGI) from Friday midnight (July 15) to Monday afternoon (July 18) worsened the situation, forcing the National Power Corporation to use its idled Viga Diesel Power Plant, Marinawa DPP and Power Barge 110 to provide back-up power.

NPC has not been using the three plants as the power firm incurs losses in operating the old gensets due to its high fuel rate or the relative cost of power produced per liter of fuel. As the Viga, Marinawa and PB110 gensets have fuel rates higher than the P0.29/liter set by the Energy Regulatory Commission, the NPC is not reimbursed for the cost of running the gensets above the limit.

According to an insider, the reclosers which the cooperative promised in its action plan to be working by this month are not yet in operation for lack of new batteries. The reclosers, as claimed by Ficelco management, would isolate parts of the grid from areas where there are line faults.

The source also told the Tribune that line faults, which account for majority of power interruptions, could be minimized if the cooperative had used the so-called thermal scanner gathering dust in its store room. Bought allegedly for P2.1 million a few years ago, the scanner can detect hairline cracks in pin-type insulators as well as overheating transformers, which cannot be seen with the use of the naked eye.

In the July 18-19 blackouts, linemen at the fault area repeatedly signaled power plant operators to put their plants on line, triggering repeated outages as they were not able to accurately gauge the location of the fault.

Another inside informed the Tribune that the thermal scanner was used some time ago to locate potential faults along the distribution line but the management and the board reportedly ignored the recommendations and did not undertake rehabilitation of the lines.

The situation is also exacerbated by the fact that the two new hydroelectric plants of Sunwest Water and Electricity Co. use the co-op’s distribution line to carry power, instead of the required 69-kV transmission line. This makes the grid highly vulnerable to simultaneous tripping caused by line faults.

Demand for power is also rising in Catanduanes, with current usage now at 7.7 megawatts, compared to the 7.3 megawatts recorded in the aftermath of the May 2010 elections. The eventual operation of the provincial government’s mall and other big-ticket projects could push this beyond 8 MW by next year, leaving the grid with just over 1 MW of excess power. If CPGI’s 3.6-MW plant conks out, it would result in a deficit of one megawatt and cause load shedding.