Power plants to rise in Ifugao, Mindoro

MANILA, Philippines - Two power plants will be put up in Ifugao and Oriental Mindoro, with both targeting to boost the supply of electricity in the country.

A P400-million mini-hydro power plant will be constructed in Barangay Haliap in Ifugao, while a $170-million high-end geothermal power plant will be put up in Barangay Montelago in Naujan town, Oriental Mindoro.

Funded by a grant from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Likud Mini-Hydro Power Plant Project in Haliap is expected to generate 820 kilowatt-hour electric power supply or 5,585.5 megawatt-hour annually.

The project will be implemented with the help of the Tokyo Electric Power Corp. and is expected to be completed in early 2015.

JICA officials, energy officials and local executives led by Ifugao Gov. Denis Habawel led the groundbreaking ceremony for the mini-hydro power plant last Tuesday.

Project proponents said the hydropower facility would augment the power requirements in the province and promote environmentally safe and renewable energy in the country.

Habawel said the construction of the mini-hydro plant, the third of its kind in the province, also aims to attract more investments in sustainable and renewable energy.

The project will also generate funds for the world-renowned Ifugao Terraces because part of the profits from the power facility would be utilized for the terraces’ preservation.

“Given our water and forest resources, we shall strive hard to manage the project so it can perform optimally and raise adequate funds for the rehabilitation and preservation of the Ifugao terraces,” Habawel added.

JICA executive Eigo Azukisawa said the hydropower project is part of Japan’s advocacy of low carbon growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

He also said that similar projects to be implemented in the future would further strengthen the Japan-Philippine partnership in the development of environmentally sound and renewable energy sources.                 

Ifugao also partly hosts the three-decade-old 380-megawatt Magat Hydro-Power and Irrigation Facility, one of the major power sources in the Luzon grid.

Meanwhile, the proponents of the $170-million geothermal power plant in Naujan town, Oriental Mindoro announced in a statement last Tuesday that they have secured enough funding from the Netherlands Development Finance Co. to proceed with the project. – With Iris Gonzales