Hedcor allots $76.6 million for mini-hydro projects

MANILA, Philippines - Hedcor Inc., a unit of Aboitiz Power Corp. (APC), is investing $76.64 million (about P3.6 billion) for the construction of several mini-hydro power projects.

Hedcor president Rene Ronquillo told reporters that the Department of Energy (DOE) has approved the company’s service contract applications for a total capacity of 38.3 megawatts (MW).

The areas to be developed are mostly in Benguet province and Davao City, he said.

The Benguet sites include Ampohaw; Bineng 1 & 2; Bineng 2B; Bineng 3;FLS; Irisan 3;Lon-oy; Lower Labay; and Sal-angan.

The projects in Davao, on the other hand, are Talomo 1, 2, 2A, 2B and Talomo 3.

Ronquillo said the biggest of these projects is the proposed eight-MW Ampohaw in Banengbeng Sablan, Benguet.

He said these service contracts signed with the DOE are existing projects. “We just signed operating contracts for the existing plants. Unfortunately the applications that we had for new projects weren’t there in time.”

But he said the company intends to sign more service contracts soon.

“Maybe in the next contract signing, hopefully (we could sign more). We’re looking at nine others now,” he said.

He said they are currently completing the documentations for the new projects.

 “Some of them are still in the preliminary stages. It’s just that with the rules today we have to file right away. So we don’t know how many exactly will push through. Some in Benguet, some in Davao, different parts of Mindanao and different parts of Cordillera. Some of them we have already applied and the others we will still be submitting,” Ronquillo pointed out.

Hedcor is the leading producer of clean and renewable energy and is the largest developer of run-of-river hydropower in the Philippines.

It was formed in 2005 through the merger of three Aboitiz hydropower subsidiaries that have been in operation for more than 20 years. Those subsidiaries were Benguet Hydro Corp., Hydro Electric Development Corp., and Northern Mini Hydro Corp.

The company currently manages 10 mini-hydropower plants in Benguet and five in Talomo, Davao – all of which are ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified. The Talomo generating facilities were acquired by the company in March of 2004 through the first successful auction conducted by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).

It currently owns and operates 15 hydropower plants with a total installed capacity of 38.22 megawatts of clean and renewable energy. More than 90 percent of its generated power is sold to the National Power Corp. while the remaining 10 percent is sold to Davao Light and Power Co., San Fernando Light and Power Co., Benguet Electric Cooperative and Philex Mining Corp.