MANILA, Philippines — SN Aboitiz Power Corporation (SNAP) is planning to build hydroelectric plants in Quezon province and Nueva Vizcaya to produce at least 300 megawatt (MW) of additional power.
According to SNAP chief executive officer Emmanuel Rubio, they are studying a hydropower project in Matuno, Nueva Vizcaya which would likely have an irrigation component, in about 12,000-hectare government-owned property.
He said the capacity of the Nueva Vizcaya hydro project, which will jointly be undertaken with the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), will be around 150MW to 180 MW.
Rubio said they are also in the process of applying for a service contract (SC) with the Department of Energy (DoE) for another hydro project in Quezon province with estimated capacity of 110MW to 120 MW.
Unlike the Matuno project wherein there is already an existing study by National Power Corporation (Napocor) and NIA, the Quezon project is still at its early stages.
The two hydro projects are projected to be completed within the next five to seven years by 2017 at the earliest, said Rubio adding that they still have to firm up the cost estimates for the two new hydro projects.
He said the Nueva Vizcaya project would actually be an integral part of its existing Magat expansion program.
Since Matuno is upstream of Magat, it will serve as an upstream storage for Magat.
“We will be able to impound water when there is significant inflow, so we won’t be spilling much water during the wet season in Magat,” said Rubio.
He explained that, “with an upstream storage in Magat, if we can actually store water upstream, we will be minimizing spilling during the wet season because we can impound it on top of Magat.
This is something that government should notice if they’re looking at flood prevention. This is actually something that should be pursued.”
SNAP is also studying the possibility of expanding the capacity of Magat hydro facility from 360 MW to 540 MW. The Magat plant, located in Ramon, Isabela and Alfonso Lista, Ifugao, uses the same water used in its power generation and is dependent on NIA’s irrigation diversion requirement.
He said SNAP was able to get financing for the Magat expansion and will be starting with the project soon.
“Magat has been approved by the lenders to undergo project financing. And they have independent engineers to validate the condition of Magat and we passed all those,” he said.
Magat is expected to be completed by 2016 followed by the Nueva Vizcaya project in 2017. He said they would likely be focusing more on Matuno and Magat projects before proceeding with the Quezon project.
“The thing is, if the Magat expansion will be approved within the next six months and we get a service contract with Matuno, we’ll be very busy.
And that’s the priority – Magat, Matuno and then the Quezon project,” he said.
Rubio said they may be tapping the same financing institutions they got for Magat for the funding requirement of the Matuno and Quezon projects.
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By: James A. Loyola
Source: Manila Bulletin, October 31, 2011
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