Power outage hit Surigao Sur
By Nida Grace P. Barcena
TANDAG CITY, Surigao del Sur (PIA) – The province of Surigao del Sur experienced an unexpected power outage for seven hours at around 1:35 PM on August 11.
According to Surigao del Sur Electric Cooperative (SURSECO) II, “The incident caused blackout in the municipalities of Lianga, San Agustin, Marihatag, Cagwait, Bayabas, San Miguel, Tago, Cortes, and the city of Tandag.
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) Information Officer Kristoffer Abellanosa disclosed, “The fault which caused the blackout was due to the outage at the San Francisco-Tandag 69 Kv line, 74 km from the NGCP-San Francisco substation in Agusan del Sur. The fault area lies near Tagbalidbid, Cagwait, Surigao del Sur.”
“The report further indicated that the power failure was caused by a Mangium tree falling across the transmission line, resulting in a break,” Abellanosa said.
SURSECO II management also clarified that the cut down of the Mangium tree was without proper coordination that resulted in the said power outage.
Restoration
The NGCP immediately started working towards restoring the power supply. Lianga and some parts of San Agustin had their lights back at around 3:32 PM on August 11. However, technical problems slowed down the rejuvenation of other affected areas including Tandag City, Cortes, Tago, San Miguel, Bayabas, Cagwait, Marihatag, and some areas in San Agustin.
At 4:41 PM, an attempt was made to temporarily energize Tandag City, Cortes, and certain sections of Tago using island mode operation through KEGI Surigao del Sur Power Plant situated at Telaje-Tandag City. Regrettably, the efforts failed due to technical glitches.
“At around 7:33 PM on the same day, NGCP successfully restored the transmission line, normalizing the power supply to all affected areas,”Abellanosa added.
Meanwhile, NGCP emphasized that SURSECO II is not authorized to intervene in the restoration of NGCP's transmission lines unless explicitly requested or authorized in specific instances. (NGPB, PIA-Surigao del Sur)
