By Francis Allan L. Angelo
Iloilo City’s lone power distributor, MORE Electric and Power Corp (MORE Power) purchased a brand-new mobile substation as part of its efforts to meet the growing demand for power while simultaneously rehabilitating old substations in its service area.
According to MORE Power President and Chief Executive Officer Roel Castro, the power distribution utility company invested in a new mobile substation from Elektroteknik.
The facility has a power transformer load capacity of 30 MegaVolt Amperes (MVA).
Aktif Elektroteknik was established in 1981 and has been operating with more than 40 years of manufacturing experience of modernized machinery lines such as Medium Voltage Air Insulated (AIS) Switchgears, Mobile Substations, Package Substations and Kiosks.
The Turkey-based Aktif Elektroteknik recently welcomed the engineers and procurement team of MORE Power in its 7,500-square meter factory in Ankara City during an inspection this June 2022.
The team, who conducted a Factory Acceptance Test, included Atty. Allana Mae Babayen-on, MORE Power Legal Officer; Engr. Mark Anthony A. Molano, Substation and Equipment Testing Assistant Manager; Engr. Wilmar J. Gonzaludo, Substation Project Manager; and Engr. Paterno C. Cabangisan OIC-Head of Project Development and Management Department.
The new mobile substation is expected to arrive in Iloilo City in August and will be stationed at Molo substation for immediate testing and energization.
Castro said the mobile substation will greatly help them in the total rehabilitation project of all five substations that MORE Power inherited from the previous distribution utility.
Currently, the power transformers in the five substations are categorized as unsafe and most of the facilities are also old and obsolete.
Castro said the new mobile substation will ensure that power supply will continue while they rehabilitate the old stationary substations.
“Operations of the existing substations will be stopped while undergoing full rehabilitation and be transferred to the new 30MVA mobile substation so as to keep serving the feeders and its customers,” Castro explained.
The new 30MVA mobile substation will serve as substitute during the repair, which might last for 8 months to 1 year for each substation.
MORE Power initially purchased a 10MVA mobile substation in 2020 and was stationed at Megaworld property to address the big demand and unstable voltage of the Iloilo Business District and at the same time stabilize the critical load of Mandurriao substation.
MORE Power aims to further improve the distribution of electricity in Iloilo City by making it more efficient, sufficient, and reliable, to lure more investors.
