BAGUIO CITY – The National Electrification Administration (NEA) on Thursday launched the National Digital Command System (NDCS) that will allow it to monitor key performance indicators of the 121 electric cooperatives nationwide.
Initially, three electric cooperatives - - Benguet Electric Cooperative (Beneco), Cebu Electric Cooperative 3 (Cebeco 3), and the Misamis Oriental Electric Cooperative (Moresco) - - take part in the implementation of the computerized tracking system.
“This is a work in progress and we will continue to incorporate all cooperatives in the system,” NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda said during the launch, live streamed through the agency’s Facebook page and viewed by local stakeholders and journalists at the Beneco command center here.
Beneco, Cebeco 3 and Moresco are taking part in the implementation of the Supervising Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system that allows authorities to monitor power outages from the ground without the need to wait for a report from the communities.
Engineer Mario Calatan, Beneco Special Equipment and Metering Office supervisor and representative of the electric cooperative as lead coordinator for NEA’s Digital Dashboard Command Center (DDCC) project, in a media interview, said the “dashboard shows our system from the NGCP (National Grid Corporation of the Philippines) down to the electric posts.”
He said the dashboard allows authorities to “easily identify the problem, allowing us to immediately dispatch personnel to troubleshoot or to address the problem.”
He said that with Beneco’s SCADA linked to NEA’s DDCC, NEA will have a clear picture of the situation on the ground for immediate decision-making.
“They can see the extent of outages, especially during disaster. (They can see) how big is the area without power using the data from the SCADA and (they) can easily brief President (Ferdinand R.) Marcos (Jr.) for details,” he said.
He said Beneco, Cebeco 3 and Moresco’s systems are already linked to the NEA.
“We are hopeful that the government will fastrack the digitalization of other cooperatives so that they can be linked to their system and achieve the complete goal of the dashboard - - to have an eye on the ground all over the country when it comes to power,” he said.
Phases of computerization
Cris Gonzales, from Beneco’s Community Relations department, said the electric cooperative will continue to provide technical assistance to their counterparts in other areas vis-a-vis the process that lead to the digitalization of electric distribution.
He said Beneco started the digitalization process in 2004 by heavily investing on training and upgrading the skills of their people as well as automation of their system and the substations, making the facilities controllable from the Beneco command center.
He said these improvements benefit their 220,000 customers.
Joe Calawen, Beneco System Control and Protection officer, said the last phase of digitalization happened in 2022.
“Our last substation to be automated was in Sinipsip (in the municipality of Buguias), during the pandemic,” he said. (PNA)
