The National Electrification Administration (NEA) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) launched the pilot implementation of a smart grid technology that will help improve the distribution system reliability of electric cooperatives (ECs) in the country.
The Distribution Automation System (DAS) of the Batangas II Electric Cooperative, Inc. (BATELEC II) was officially put into operation after a commissioning ceremony held Tuesday, (July 2) held at its headquarters in Lipa City, Batangas.
“This technology from Japan is hoped to effectively address specific technological challenges of ECs.”
Present in the commissioning ceremony were the executives from JICA, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and its affiliated firm Takaoka Toko Co., Ltd (TKTK), as well as representatives from the NEA and the Department of Energy (DOE).
The project was implemented under a JICA collaboration program with the private sector to disseminate Japanese technologies for electricity distribution system and management in the Philippines.
BATELEC II was selected as the pilot site to demonstrate the effectiveness of DAS technology, designed to reduce the duration of power outage and improve the distribution system reliability through automation.
“The collaboration program speaks volumes of the mutual trust between the Philippines and Japan.”
NEA Engineering Department manager Ferdinand Villareal, in a speech delivered on behalf of Administrator Edgardo Masongsong, said the collaboration program speaks volumes of the mutual trust between the Philippines and Japan.
“Japanese technologies, such as the DAS, are seen as essential tools that could help ECs improve their electricity service and make the lives of the people, especially in the far-flung areas, better and more convenient” Villareal said during the commissioning ceremony.
“This technology from Japan is hoped to effectively address specific technological challenges of ECs that affect their operational efficiency, more particularly the distribution system reliability,” the NEA official added.
JICA Philippines assistant representative Momoko Otsuka, meanwhile, expressed hope the collaboration program “will lead to future expansion to other electric cooperatives.” She also assured that the TEPCO Power Grid and TKTK technology is “highly reliable.”
TKTK president Toshiro Takebe said they have introduced DAS in Japan and it was successful so they are bringing it overseas. “I hope the significance of this system will be well noticed by prompt fault location, remote switching, and reducing outage duration,” he said.
BATELEC II general manager Octavious Mendoza admitted that power reliability is one of their perennial problems, and is thankful to JICA and NEA for selecting their cooperative as pilot site of the DAS technology.
“We hope that if this will become successful, we can replicate this in all our feeders all over our franchise area, and so we can compete globally with other distribution utilities,” Mendoza said.
JICA tapped the expertise of TEPCO Power Grid and its affiliated firm TKTK to work with the NEA and BATELEC II for the pilot implementation of the DAS. Talks for the collaboration on the project began in late 2017.