Ceaseless Energy Against the Pandemic
Meralco Shows Ceaseless Energy Against the Pandemic
“The country’s largest power distribution utility continues to ease the situation with reliability.
By Sasha Lim-Uy
Published April 30, 2021
Meralco has recently energized the new COVID-19 treatment center on J.W. Diokno Boulevard, Pasay.
It’s easy to take the light over our heads for granted, but as with everything else, the pandemic has made us reevaluate what’s important. And power is essential.
Energy suppliers have earned an even more vital and systematic responsibility: without reliable electricity, we cannot fight the waging war against the COVID-19 virus. Sanitation protocols such as air filtration, ventilation, UV sterilizers, and even clean water production operate on electricity. Diagnostic testing and mechanical ventilators require consistent power output as well. The slightest fluctuation can be life-threatening.
Meralco, the Philippines’ largest electric distribution utility company, has risen to the challenge. It recently energized the new COVID-19 treatment center on J.W. Diokno Boulevard, Pasay, which aims to ease the current hospital overload. The project required the installation of six (6) 150-meter concrete poles, six (6) spans of covered overhead conductions, three (3) 100-kVA distribution transformers, a service drop, and a metering facility.
Rising to the challenge: Meralco has serviced over 95 COVID-19-related health facilities, its newest one being the treatment center in Pasay.
The company also energized a new COVID-19 vaccine storage facility in Barangay Sta. Elena in Marikina City. This will house the government-purchased AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines, as well as the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines that have yet to arrive in the country. The project involves the installation of 15-meter and tandem 13.5-meter concrete poles, three (3) 167-kVA distribution transformers, a service drop, a metering facility, and the extension of three (3) spans of covered overhead conductor.
The new COVID-19 vaccine storage facility in Barangay Sta. Elena in Marikina City will house the vaccines bought by the government.
The two projects are only the latest in a series of efforts by Meralco to help curb the pandemic. The group has serviced over 95 COVID-19-related health facilities, including the 525-bed Solaire-PAGCOR Mega Quarantine Center (Parañaque), the 300-bed Philippine Arena Complex Mega Quarantine Center (Bulacan), and a 112-bed temporary center at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium (Manila).
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To keep up with the growing demands of the pandemic, processes were also fast-tracked. This includes the energization of healthcare locations and essential government offices, as well as the sponsoring of numerous disinfections.
Furthermore, Meralco inspected, cleared, and tested the electricity in such sites. It also diligently maintains its transformers in these crucial areas to ensure uninterrupted service.
Comprehensive Support
Meralco also understands that the effects of the pandemic stretch far beyond hospices. With mobility limited, it also converted 30 container vans at the Cultural Center of the Philippines to serve as shelters for locally stranded individuals. Plus, it continues to support the Batangas-based Kinpo Electronics Philippines Inc., the government’s partner in manufacturing protective gear for severe COVID-19 patients.
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Meralco is also powering temporary mortuary freezers in East Avenue Medical Center, Loyola Memorial Chapel & Crematorium, and Arlington Memorial Chapels.
More recently, as the country amps up its defense against the pandemic, Meralco organized a task force that will oversee adequate and unfailing power supply to COVID-19 vaccine storage facilities and vaccination centers. Currently, it is monitoring over 300 facilities, including MetroPac Movers Inc., which housed the first batch of vaccines (600,000 doses of Sinovac and 464,000 doses of AstraZeneca) last March.
The current uncertainty is a long, dark tunnel. And Meralco strives to not just be the light at the end, but to help light the country the whole way through.
To learn more, contact your Relationship Manager, call 16210 or email us at corporatepartners@meralco.com.ph.
Story originally posted on Power Club.