United Holdings to double capacity of Bukidnon hydro plant

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino-owned renewable energy firm United Holdings Power Corp. (UHPC) is planning to expand the Bukidnon hydropower project to help ease the power shortage in Mindanao.

The firm is looking at a 15.7-megawatt (MW) expansion of the 8.4-MW Upper Maladugao hydropower plant UHPC president Dominic Sytin said.

The expansion project called the Lower Maladugao hydropower plant will be under a separate subsidiary, Bukidnon Maladugao Hydro Power Corp.

Sytin said the detailed engineering design (DED) for this expansion project will be completed by the first half of November.

The DED is necessary to attain financial closure and commence bidding for the EPC contract, he noted. 

For the initial hydropower project, UHPC is spending P1.2 billion for the 8.4-MW facility under UHPC Bukidnon Hydro Power I Corp., which will be financed through 30 percent equity and 70 percent debt from BDO Unibank Inc.

The firm targets to start construction in the first quarter of 2016, after completing the bidding process for engineering, procurement and construction and electro-mechanical equipment.

The Upper and Lower cascading mini-hydro project will tap the Maladugao River in Lampanusan, Kalilangan, Bukidnon.

The service contract for the hydro project was awarded by the Department of Energy last March.