Philippines’ largest power distributor, Manila Electric Company (Meralco), has commissioned its new North Caloocan 115/34.5 kV gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) substation to serve the growing demand for electricity in its franchise area.
The project entailed the commissioning of a new 83 MVA power transformer, one 115 kV GIS substation, one 34 kV GIS substation, four new distribution feeders, and other substation equipment. The substation is located along Quirino Highway in Novaliches, Quezon City, which unloads the forecasted critical load of Novaliches and Camarin power transformer banks. It will serve the growing demand in the areas of Quezon City, Caloocan City North, and portions of San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, including the expected power requirement of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line-7 once operational. Three more GIS substations that use modern networking techniques to operate and perform monitoring, metering, real-time protection and control, were previously put into service by Meralco. These three are situated in Commonwealth in Quezon City, Pamplona Uno in Las Pias, and Escoda in Manila. To meet the rising demand of its customers, all four smart substations have added a combined capacity of 332 MVA.