Aboitiz Power to put up hydropower plants in Davao, Mt Province

MANILA, Philippines - Aboitiz Power Corp. (APC), the power generation arm of the Aboitiz Group, is putting up more hydropower plants in Davao and Mt. Province.

APC senior vice president for operations and maintenance Chris Faelnar said they are currently finalizing studies on hydroelectric power plants in Sita, Davao City. These projects, located on the boundary of Davao City and Bukidnon, would have a capacity of 40 to 60 megawatts (MW).

“We have already conducted the feasibility study for Sita. Our contractors have flown to the area by helicopter and identified the sites,” he said.

According to Faelnar, APC is planning to construct the Sita hydro project in phases. He said Sita 1 is estimated at around 9.5 MW, Sita 2 at 21.2 MW and Sita 3 at 11.6 MW.

Faelnar said they are also planning to develop the Sabangan hydro projects estimated to deliver up to 28 MW. The Sabangan project, which will also be done in phases, is in Sabangan, Mt. Province.

On top of these projects, the APC executive said the group is also looking at pursuing the development of the proposed 27.5-MW Tamugan hydro project, also in Davao City.

Faelnar, however, said the capacity of the plant would be reduced to 10 MW to take into account concerns raised by the Davao City Water District that the project may conflict with the drinking water distribution in the province.

He said the company also has plans of expanding the capacity of 42.5 megawatt Sibulan hydro project by an additional 15 MW by 2012.

APC is one of the largest private renewable energy producers in the Philippines. Its renewable energy portfolio includes geothermal and hydroelectric power plants located across the country.

Its hydroelectric generation assets include the Bakun plant in Ilocos Sur, the Magat plant in Isabela and the Ambuklao plant in Benguet.

The company also runs geothermal power plants in Tiwi plant in Albay and the Makban facility located at the Laguna-Batangas border.