Danessa Rivera (The Philippine Star)
- September 22, 2018 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Power has yet
to be restored in around half of the areas affected by Typhoon Ompong as damage
to the distribution sector reaches over P200 million.
Data from the National
Electrification Administration (NEA) showed the total estimated damage cost
amounted to P208.74 million as of yesterday.
Cagayan cornered the bulk of the
costs at P110.83 million, followed by Abra at P20 million and Benguet at P19.23
million.
A total of 332 cities and
municipalities lost power and, as of yesterday, a little over half have had
power restored in their areas.
The NEA data cited 92 areas have
partial power while 70 cities and municipalities are still awaiting
restoration.
The National Power Corp. (Napocor)
said it has successfully restored power in its Small Power Utilities Group
(SPUG) power plants affected by Ompong.
Normal power plant operations are
now in effect in Batanes (Sabtang, Itbayat and Basco Diesel Power Plants),
Cagayan (Calayan, Balatubat and Minabel DPPs), Isabela (Palanan DPP and
Maconacon mini-grid) and Aurora (Casiguran DPP).
Napocor’s Kabugao DPP in Apayao, on
the other hand, remains non-operational as it awaits distribution line
restoration.
“During typhoons or natural
disaster, our protocol demands us to shut down power plants in order to protect
our generating sets from mechanical stress that can be caused by distribution
line disturbances,” Napocor president and CEO Pio Benavidez said.
Napocor said that it then
coordinates with electric cooperatives and/or distribution utilities in
returning power back to the grid after clearing operations.
Napocor, on the other hand, stopped
spilling operations in San Roque dam yesterday as the water elevation went down
to 275.24 meters above sea level.
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