First Gen to put up mini hydropower projects in Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines -  To help alleviate the power problem in Mindanao, Lopez-owned First Gen Corp. will put up mini-hydroelectric power projects in the region, a top company official said.

First Gen president Francis Giles Puno said its subsidiary First Gen Mindanao Hydro Power Corp. (FGMHPC) has already obtained hydropower contracts with the government for five projects in Mindanao.

Puno said these contracts would give FGMHPC the exclusive right to explore, develop, and utilize renewable energy resources within specified areas. This will also allow the firm to avail of both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives pursuant to the Renewable Energy Law.

Puno said FGMHPC conducted various studies last year on potential hydropower sites in the southern part of the country.

The company official said they have also secured other relevant government permits and authorization for the development of several projects.

These projects are the 30-megawatt Puyo River in Jabonga, Agusan del Norte; eight-MW Bubunawan River in Baungon and Libona, Bukidnon; 14-MW Cabadbaran River in Cabadbaran, Agusan Norte; eight-MW Tumalaong River in Baungon, Bukidnon; and 20-MW Tagoloan River in Impasugong and Sumilao, Bukidnon.

Puno said the Puyo project is now in the preliminary engineering design phase while the Bubunawan project is in the final stages of its feasibility study.

Both projects are targeted to commence commercial operations in 2014, he added.

Meanwhile, the US Trade and Development Agency provided a grant for the conduct of a feasibility study for the Cabadbaran River project in January this year.

The study, Puno said, is targeted to be completed by July 2011.

“If deemed feasible, the Cabadbaran project is seen to commence operations in 2015,” he said.

First Gen, at present, owns and operates a 1.6 MW mini-hydro facility in Bukidnon.