Meralco announces large-scale natural ester liquid adoption
Philippines: Electric utility Meralco has started implementing a wide-ranging project to improve the performance of its 220,000 distribution transformers.
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Philippines: Electric utility Meralco has started implementing a wide-ranging project to improve the performance of its 220,000 distribution transformers.
This standardised shift will be achieved by replacing the mineral oil in existing distribution transformers with natural ester, a fire-safe and biodegradable transformer liquid; with the first batch of the retrofilling program to be conducted by MIESCOR (the service arm of Meralco) with MIDEL eN 1204 natural ester oil, manufactured by M&I Materials. Meralco is the largest private sector electric distribution utility company in the Philippines, serving 36 cities, 75 municipalities and over 7 million customers.
The switch to natural ester transformer liquid is part of Meralco’s sustainability agenda, which the company has aligned to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
“Upgrading our distribution transformer fleet with earth-friendly materials is a major undertaking in line with our sustainability agenda. As we continue to embed sustainability deep in our strategy and operations as a Company – from the centres of our business activities to the edges of our networks – we commit to powering the good life for our more than seven million customers through greener, safer electricity service,” commented Meralco’s Sustainability Officer Raymond Ravelo.
“This retrofilling initiative is a great example of utility-wide adoption of safer, greener, ester transformer liquids. Historically, pole-top transformers were considered a disposable commodity. Meralco’s retrofilling drive shows an innovative approach to sustainability that many other utilities in the region can learn from and emulate,” said Steve Jones, MIDEL’s Sales Director for the Asia-Pacific region.
The retrofilling work will be conducted by MIESCOR, a wholly owned subsidiary of Meralco and one of the leading EPC contractors in the Philippines energy sector.
Source: M&I Materials
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