NORECO upgrades substation to meet rising power demand, low voltage

DUMAGUETE CITY – The Negros Oriental II Electric Cooperative (NORECO II) is upgrading its substation in Dauin town to address the rising demand for power and quality issues in its service areas.

NORECO II general manager Fe Marie Tagle said in an interview Friday that the Dauin substation will be upgraded from 4.2 megavolt-amperes (MVA) to 10 MVA.

While the upgrade is underway, the substation's load has been temporarily transferred to Feeder 9 of the Bagacay substation in Barangay Bagacay here, she said.

Tagle allayed fears of power outages in areas serviced by the Bagacay substation following the load transfer from Dauin.

"There is nothing to worry about because the Bagacay substation has two transformer units of a total of 50 MVA that can provide for the needs of consumers," she said.

The upgrade of the Dauin substation has begun and will take 45 days to complete.

To complement this, Tagle said, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) is also installing a mobile capacitor bank in Barangay Maayong Tubig in Dauin to address low voltage concerns.

The capacitor bank stabilizes the voltage of the actual power supply from the 69 kilo-Volt(kV) line in Amlan town that reaches the Dauin substation, which is already diminished to about 60kV considering the distance between both points.

The Dauin substation also services NORECO II member-consumer-owners in Bacong.

Dauin is a major tourist hub in Negros Oriental, hosting resorts and the famous dive destination, Apo Island, while Bacong is adjacent to this capital city with many residential and commercial establishments sprouting. (PNA)