10 MVA SUBSTATION POWER TRANSFORMER ARRIVES IN BULALACAO, MANKAYAN, BENGUET

Photo by: LSI

BENGUET: The 10 MVA substation power transformer the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) has leased from the Ilocos Sur Electric Cooperative (ISECO) arrived at Bulalacao, Mankayan at exactly 6 PM today, June 9, 2023.

The installation of the transformer will fast-track the restoration of electricity in Mankayan, some parts of Buguias, and Cervantes, Ilocos Sur that are still without power.

Three hotline and maintenance teams of BENECO will assist the 14 personnel of trucker Ohmnitek for the installation of the transformer’s hauling, transport, rigging and spotting (in Mankayan), assembly of disassembled parts, oil filling and recycling, performance of electrical tests, turnover of the power transformer, housekeeping and demobilization and the eventual restoration of power.

The BENECO team will also conduct the needed configuration of the primary lines connected to the Bulalacao Substation.

“A substation power transformer is not like your ordinary and much smaller transformer you see hanging on BENECO posts. A distribution utility like BENECO cannot just buy a spare like a spare tire,” according to Amy Lyn Timpac, a BENECO engineer.

“There are a lot of important considerations to consider: aside from just putting millions on stand-by that the co-op can use instead to fund equally important projects is imprudent. Furthermore, storing equipment this huge and equally as expensive is technically unsound because over the years while in storage, its insulation will deteriorate and vulnerable to moisture, worse water can leak inside rendering it useless and the several millions spent for its acquisition is wasted,” Timpac explained.

BENECO also diverted some of its load last year to the newly commissioned Sinipsip Substation in Buguias.

“We cannot stock a specific rating of a substation power transformer because upgrading in a distribution utility is constant. Innovation and upgrading is fast, what is applicable today, will not be applicable tomorrow. The rating of a transformer to be purchased will depend on the growth of the demand of the community served,” said Timpac***LSI