Meralco seeks capex approval for transformer
Philippines: Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is seeking regulatory approval on capital spending for the “emergency replacement” of a defective transformer.
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Philippines: Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is seeking regulatory approval on capital spending for the “emergency replacement” of a defective transformer.
The replacement is needed at its Urdaneta substation to prevent blackouts at the commercial business districts (CBDs) of Makati and Taguig.
In its regulatory filing, Meralco indicated that its Urdaneta power transformer no. 3 “was no longer safe to be re-energized and was declared for replacement,” hence, it was prompted on doing the required facility replacement even prior to the grant of approval by the regulator.
The utility firm noted that since the transformer was inoperable, it just opted to temporarily transfer the load of the facility to the adjacent Urdaneta transformer bank number 2 – but that is an arrangement that cannot be prolonged because of possible threats of overloading, especially when power demand rises because of post-Covid economic recovery.
“Considering the imminent risks posed by shifting the loads to the adjacent power transformer bank no. 2, Meralco was constrained to replace the defective Urdaneta power transformer no. 3 with an available 83 MVA, 115 kV-34.5 kV power transformer and was energized on 25 September 2021,” the power firm stressed.
Relative to the emergency capital expenditure (capex) being sought, the ERC has scheduled public hearings on Meralco’s petition on 2 and 9 February next year — with expectation that the outcome of such process will become the industry regulator’s basis in granting approval to the filing.
The scale of capital spending sought for the facility replacement at the Urdaneta substation sited in Makati City had been pegged at $1.13 M (P56.792 M).
Source: Manila Bulletin
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