AboitizPower to build 2 more hydro plants

MANILA, Philippines - AboitizPower subsidiary Hedcor is adding two more hydropower plants in its portfolio, a move seen to help curb the ongoing power crunch in Mindanao.

The company yesterday announced that it would be building two cascading plants in Bukidnon, which would be tapping power from the Amusig, Guihean and Tanaon rivers.

The first plant, the Manolo Fortich Hydro 1 will have a capacity of 35.2 megawatts while the second plant, the Manolo Fortich Hydro 2 will generate 16.4 MW.

The two plants combined can produce a total of almost 300 million kWh a year, Hedcor said.

The projects have received support from the local government of Impasug-ong and the barangay chairman of Guihean, which are both in Bukidnon.

The local officials called on local residents to support the hydro investor in their community during the official signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) among the local officials and the AboitizPower subsidiary, Hedcor on the project.

“Hedcor needs the full support of the community, we have to ensure the safety of our investors against any unfavorable incident. The project will help ease the power crisis in Mindanao,” said Impasug-ong Mayor Mario Okinlay said.

He said the community needs Hedcor’s additional capacity to reduce the brownouts they currently experience in their area.

Hedcor vice president for business development Boy Jabonillo said the company strives to bring inclusive growth to the host communities by helping them with sustainable social development programs.

Other parties to the MOA signing were community leaders from barangays Guilang-guilang, Santiago, Dalirig and Maluco.

Hedcor is a wholly owned subsidiary of AboitizPower, the power arm of the Aboitiz Group, with a generating capacity of 47 megawatts for Mindanao.

At present, Hedcor manages and operates 19 hydropower plants and supplies the country with 155 MW of clean and renewable energy.

It has 30 years of experience as a leading run-of-river developer in the Philippines.