NGCP says ‘no way’ for China to shut down power grid remotely

There is no way for China to switch off the power transmission grid remotely in case of a conflict, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said Tuesday.

The Philippine grid could only be shut down by manually switching off breakers in each of the 200 substations in the country, NGCP spokesperson and AVP Cynthia Alabanza said.

“With all due respect to the government officials who’ve made statements on this, there is simply no way this can be done remotely,” she said in an interview on ANC’s “Headstart.”

“If you want to shut down the grid, you have to manually close each breaker in each substation so that is not possible,” she said.

“You would have to call at the very least 200 substation managers and have them shut off several breakers in each of the substations one by one, so it’s not one button and it’s not remote. It has to be done manually,” Alabanza added.

Last Friday, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the NGCP has been uncooperative in having a security audit of its system, noting that China has the potential to remotely shut down the power transmission grid because of its digital nature.

The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) holds a 40% stake in NGCP, while Henry Sy Jr.’s Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp. and Robert Coyiuto Jr.’s Calaca High Power Corp. each hold 30%.

The NGCP consortium holds a 25-year concession contract and a 50-year franchise to operate the country’s power transmission network.

The consortium has since downplayed China’s role, as it said that SGCC is merely a “technical adviser.” —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/ GMA News