INEC gets P166M Korean grant

By Cherry Joy D. Garma/PIA1-Ilocos Norte

  • To upgrade distribution power supply to northern
    towns in Ilocos Norte

DINGRAS, Ilocos Norte (Feb. 13) – The Republic of Korea through the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) has awarded a grant to Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative to upgrade distribution of power supply to the province’s northern towns.

Engr. Felino Herbert P. Agdigos, INEC general manager, confirmed the grant worth of P166.96 million or 3.5 billion Korean Won in the form of materials and labor cost.

“This will benefit our consumers particularly in the northern towns of Burgos to Pagudpud where voltage is only 13.2 kV, which has a very limited reach,” Agdigos said.

The grant has been officially awarded to INEC by KIAT on January 22 at INEC main office in Dingras, Ilocos Norte through INEC board President Reynaldo M. Lazo and GM Agdigos.

The multi-million-peso grant will upgrade the distribution line from 13.2kV to 22.9kV of the distribution feeders 2C and 2D of the Burgos substation which was set for a period of two years.

The approximately 70 kilometers of existing distribution lines supply the whole area of the municipalities of Burgos, Bangui, Dumalneg, Pagudpud except the villages of Pancian and Pasaleng in Pagudpud town, Davila and Dilavo villages in the municipality of Pasuquin.

The said areas, which are located on the coastal villages of the province, frequently experience voltage fluctuations and thus prone to unscheduled power interruption due to the vulnerability of the distribution system.

Once the project is finished, the upgrading is expected to boost the power supply from 180 to 240 voltage and would be able to serve even the far-flung areas as far as Pancian where power supply is low due to the limited distribution voltage.

“There are no additional charges to be collected from the member-consumer for this project and INEC will shoulder the import duties and taxes of the materials as our counterpart with Korea,” said Agdigos.

The INEC has started the preparation of the project this year with a training of their engineers in Korea, and some construction of storage area for the materials.

As the supervisory agencies of the project, National Electrification Administration (NEA) Administrator Edgardo R. Masongsong, representing the Philippines, signed the document with the KIAT Vice-president Park, Sang Yi of Korea.

INEC is the lone beneficiary for this grant in the Philippines which is chosen for its good standing and performance for consistently achieving AAA category or the highest category in NEA’s yearly performance evaluation. (Cherry Joy D. Garma/PIA1-Ilocos Norte)