TALISAY CITY, Cebu, Philippines — The Visayan Electric Company (Veco), a power distribution firm servicing major towns and cities in Metro Cebu, launched recently its latest power substation in Talisay City, Cebu that will address the growing requirement for power in the southern part of Metro Cebu.

The new facility accommodates the increasing demand from Pardo up to the town of San Fernando, with a capacity of 33 megavolt amperes (MVA). The substation, estimated to have cost some P50 million, was energized last Thursday to answer the overloading problem of its adjacent old substations, Pardo and Naga.

The three substations will be loaded at their minimum capacity, far from overloading, resulting to safe and reliable power, said Val Saludes, Veco assistant vice president for engineering.

Power interruptions due to load transfers will be eliminated for the next six years, Saludes assured.

“This latest investment will aim to improve the actual demand in southern Cebu from Talisay City to San Fernando, which is at 60 megawatts (MW),” he said.

He said peak demand is expected to increase by 20 MW once SM and Filinvest start operations at the South Road Properties next year.

Saludes hinted of a possible substation at the SRP in the next two to three years.

According to Jaime Jose Aboitiz, Veco chief operations officer and executive vice president, the company applied for two substations this year and is now awaiting approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission.

He revealed that a portion of Veco’s total capital expenditures pegged between P600 million to P800 million for this year will be allocated for the rehabilitation and improvement of existing substations.

“We need to step ahead and put the existing capacity before it’s needed,” Aboitiz said.

The Talisay substation is Veco’s 18th substation. All the existing 17 substations across Metro Cebu has a total capacity of 606 MVA.

The utility’s franchise area extends from Liloan town in the north to San Fernando town in the south.

Veco records show that its franchise area has a total peak demand of 400 MW between 2-4 pm during the summer months.