Day-long power shutdown to hit some parts of Leyte, entire Samar Island

TACLOBAN CITY, April 22 -- Nearly half of the region’s households and businesses will suffer 12-hour power interruptions on Sunday due to the ongoing restoration of power lines damaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

The entire Samar Island and some parts of Leyte, including the regional capital, will experience a blackout from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to a notice issued by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) on Friday.

The power outage will disrupt Sunday activities of 349,609 households and business establishments in Samar, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, and some parts of northern Leyte. The figure represents 44.59 percent of the region’s 784,069 total connections as of last year.

“There will be a replacement of conductors from tower numbers 33 to 35 of the Ormoc-Babatngon 138-kV line,” the NGCP said.

The activity involves the transfer and replacement of lines from its temporary structures to permanent towers, a major project after 'Yolanda' badly damaged NGCP’s transmission infrastructure.

As an immediate remedy after the monster typhoon, NGCP constructed emergency restoration system structures as a temporary replacement for the damaged backbone.

Of the 349,609 households and businesses affected, 60,098 are covered by the Leyte II Electric Cooperative; 68,223 by the Northern Samar Electric Cooperative; 57,611 by the Samar I Electric Cooperative; 75,362 by the Samar II Electric Cooperative and 88,315 by the Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative.

Eastern Visayas' power supply comes solely from the Leyte Tongonan Geothermal Field, which generates 699.4 megawatts, more than enough to supply the power requirements of the region. (PNA)

SARWELL Q. MENIANO