Government eyes China funding for Agus power plant rehab

MANILA, Philippines — The government is planning to ask China for funding assistance for the rehabilitation of the 982-megawatt Agus-Pulangi Hydroelectic Power Plants, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).

In an interview, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the government is planning to include the rehabilitation of Agus-Pulangi power plants in the second basket of infrastructure projects for funding assistance from China.

“We discussed (with the Chinese government) the second basket of projects which is about six or eight projects. Among them, which is quite important to us, is the rehabilitation of the Agus River Hydroelectric System,” Dominguez said.

A high-level Philippine delegation, led by Dominguez, was in China last week to meet their counterparts and to brief Chinese business leaders on investment prospects in the Philippines.

The Agus-Pulangi hydro power plants can supply up to only 40 percent of their total capacity to the Mindanao grid. The plants are the cheapest source of power in Mindanao, with capacity sold at around P2.70 per kilowatt-hour.

Dominguez declined to divulge the cost of the project, as the government would still need to conduct a feasibility study. However, he had said in an earlier interview the project may need P34 billion in funding.

“We don’t know yet because we’ll have to do the feasibility study. It’s quite a complex project because there’s Agus 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,” he said.

Dominguez said Manila and Beijing are also working to firm up the agreements that would be signed by the two countries during the visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang for the 31st ASEAN Summit next month.