by Ailene Alafag

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet--The first week of june 2009 is a major milestone for the Operations and Maintenance Department of the Benguet Electric Cooperative Inc. (Beneco) as the manager and his staff conducted their first “Supervisory, Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Integrator Training Course” on June 1-6, 2009.

The SCADA is a computer based monitoring, data processing and controlling of the various components of an electric distribution system such as the substations, feeders, and distribution lines using special hardware and computer software for the process.

The pool of trainers was led by no less than OMD Manager Engr. Ricardo ”Rocky” Pallogan and augmented by OMD Engineers also known as the “SCADA Boys” namely Engineers Joaquin Calawen, Mark Labitoria, Christopher Tait, Leo Binwag and Esteban Macay.

The training was held at the Punctuality Hall, DPS building for the classroom lecture, the SCADA room for hands-on and familiarization and at Irisan Substation for the field training.

Nine engineers attended the one-week seminar from different electric cooperatives (EC’s). The participants were Engrs. Alexander Salomon and Vicente Moral (Distribution Management Committee), Jesen Jaen and Arensky Moncada (Batangas II Electric Cooperative) , Norlito and Alexander Adove (Batangas I, Electric Cooperative) , Ferdinand Binondo (Department of Energy), Joselito Baldapan and Danilo Quidlat ( Bohol I Electric Cooperative) .

Since the SCADA was commissioned last year after it was officially inaugurated on November 24, 2008, several personnel from various electric cooperatives nationwide have already visited Beneco. Adopting the SCADA System also made Beneco a pioneer of modern electrification systems nationwide.

The basic concept of SCADA is to set up a Human Machine Interface (HMI) apparatus which presents process data to a human operator in order to control the whole process. An HMI is usually linked to the SCADA system’s databases and software programs, to provide trending, diagnostic data and management information such as scheduled maintenance procedures, logistic information, detailed schematic for a specific machine, and expert-system troubleshooting guides.

Engr. Pallogan said training and awareness is the first step towards adopting a SCADA-based electric backbone system which requires a major investment that entails extensive research and training. Through the Technical Development Competency Program (TDCP) conducted by Professor Rowaldo Del Mundo of the Univestiy of the Philippines Diliman Engineering Department, Beneco’s technical staff in the OMD gained the much needed skills to establish and operate the SCADA without necessarily hiring the services of a contractor.

Engr. Pallogan said General Manager Gerardo Verzosa decided to offer the training program free of charge to interested participants as Beneco’s way of sharing their skills in line with the coops “Big Brother, Small Brother” program to help other coopsThe culminating activity of the seminar was the awarding of the Certificates of Training by GM Verzosa and Prof. Rowaldo Del Mundo, witnessed by Beneco Department Managers, Supervisors and Technical Staff at the Marco Polo Hall, El Cielito Inn, North Drive , Baguio City on June 6, 2009.

The participants expressed their gratitude for Beneco’s generosity in sharing their technical knowledge and skills. They also requested the audience to pray for them that someday in the near future, they can apply what they learned through the implementation of a fully operational SCADA at their respective electric cooperatives. * Beneco Release