North Cotabato power tower bombed anew

By Jaime Laude and Danessa Rivera (The Philippine Star) | Updated March 3, 2016 - 12:00am
http://www.philstar.com/nation/2016/03/03/1558819/north-cotabato-power-tower-bombed-anew

MANILA, Philippines – Tower 63 of the Kabacan-Sultan Kudarat 138-kiloVolt line in Barangay Pagangan in Aleosan, North Cotabato was bombed anew yesterday.

The bombing, which occurred shortly after midnight, destroyed two posts but failed to topple the tower, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said.

”Restoration of Tower 63 will commence as soon as the area is secured,” the NGCP said.

It was the second attempt to topple the tower since Jan. 14. The tower, which was damaged after two of the four improvised explosive devices strapped to each of its four columns went off, was restored after a few days.


Supply deficiency
Mindanao was faced with a supply deficiency of 175 megawatts as of 1 p.m. yesterday due to the bombing.

The power situation in the region may worsen after the STEAG State Power Inc. (SPI) announced preventive maintenance work on its 210-MW coal-fored power plant in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental.

SPI president and chief executive officer Bodo Goerlich said they have scheduled the preventive maintenance on Unit 1 on March 5 and 6.

”We carry out the necessary preventive maintenance activities ahead of the summer season to ensure the optimum availability of our capacity when demand is at its peak,” Goerlich said.

The NGCP said 16 towers have been bombed since November, causing widespread blackouts in Mindanao.



The Mindanao grid had been placed on red alert in January after two units of the Agus hydroelectric power plant were isolated due to the bombings of transmission towers.