The Davao Light & Power Company has extended power supply to the Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCoS) anew through its submarine cable in response to a request of Samal Mayor Al David Uy for a stable electricity to the island this Christmas season.
On Thursday, Davao Light has switched on the unused capacity of its Pampanga substation which will supply 3 megawatts of power to Samal.
It will be recalled that on March 17, 2016, the 13.8-kilovolt submarine cable line connecting Samal to the mainland grid was severely damaged after being dragged by the anchor of M/V Ecuador of Seaview Cargo Shipping Corp.
The submarine cable, with a capacity of 4 megawatts (MW) to 5 MW, transmitted power from the Davao Light and Power Co. sub-station in Davao City to IGaCoS, which is under the Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative Inc. (DANECO) franchise.
A study was then conducted by University of the Philippines National Engineering Center on overhead transmission lines that would replace the submarine cables which are now totally destroyed.
According to Engr. Roger Velasco, incoming Davao Light Executive Vice President and Chairman of Operations, before Davao Light has extends power support to DANECO, the island had been solely relying on the island city’s generator sets which was unable to suffice the city’s power demand.
Velasco said, the district of Babak is the first recipient of the three megawatt power supply while the rest of the power requirement will be supplied by DANECO.
Velasco added that Davao Light could only supply 3 megawatts because the submarine cable being used could only handle such capacity.
Velasco further explained that months earlier, DANECO made the same request to Davao Light however, at that time, it was not accommodated as the Pampanga substation was already at maximum load due to the rapid growth in the serviced area.
The EVP assured that the support will not affect the company’s Davao City consumers.
“As the area (Samal) progresses and the load will increase, the accommodation will be cut because our costumers (in Davao City) will be affected,” said Velasco who added that as long as Davao Light could extend its support, it will continue to do so.
