Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is keen on building more smart substations in its franchise area as it inaugurated its third substation of such quality in the township development that connects the cities of Pasig and Quezon City.
The company said its integrated and fully-automated gas-insulated switchgear substation in Robinsons Land Corp.’s (RLC) Bridgetowne development is one of the most technologically advanced power infrastructures in the country that will cost up to P1 billion when fully completed.
The facility is part of Meralco’s roadmap to ensure adequate and reliable power supply for the growing needs of the locators within the 31-hectare project comprised of residential condominiums, office buildings, shopping centers, a five-star hotel, as well as parks, a school, a hospital and public art installation.
The substation with an initial capacity of 83 mega volt-ampere, is situated in a 1,293 square meters parcel of land provided by RLC via a collaborative real estate arrangement since proximity to a substation improves electric reliability and dependability in an area.
“The Bridgetowne substation will definitely improve dependability and reliability of electricity service in the Bridgetowne community and surrounding growth areas, as it relieves expected critical loading of nearby Hillcrest, Cainta, and SM-Shangri-la substations.
Likewise, the new technology utilized is expected to deliver an unprecedented amount of functionality for the benefit of Meralco and its customers,” said Ronnie Aperocho, Meralco senior vice president and head of networks.
Aperocho said Meralco first two smart substations are located in Valencia in San Juan and the one in PAGCOR Entertainment City in Pasay.
He said the next smart substations to be built are the P532-million in Eton Centris in Quezon City as well as the P478 million in Net Park, Taguig and the P500 million in Escoda in Manila.
These are eyed for completion by next year.
“The good thing about this fully digital system is the much-improved degree of automation… It will both have a local and remote control from the head officer. Another good thing about this is we can put in more sensors from substation level up to the downstream,” Aperocho added.
