Aboitiz unit starts Davao hydro plants

MANILA, Philippines - Hedcor Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of AboitizPower, is increasing its capacity by 13.6 megawatts(MW) with its new run-of-river hydropower plants.

The company inaugurated Tuesday its Tudaya 1 and 2 hydropower plants in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, marking its 20th and 21st power plants and increasing Hedcor’s total capacity to 170 MW.

Tudaya 1 harnesses the Baroring River with 6.6 MW capacity, while Tudaya 2 utilizes the Sibulan River with 7 MW capacity for a combined capacity of 13.6 MW.

Construction started in the last quarter of 2012 with a total investment of almost P2.4 billion, said Hedcor president and COO Rene Ronquillo.

Power produced by the facilities will be supplied to Davao Light and Power Co. and Davao del Sur Electric Cooperative.

AboitizPower is eyeing an additional 380 MW by 2017 to help boost power supply in Mindanao from its upcoming projects that include Hedcor’s Davao del Sur and Bukidnon hydropower plant projects and Therma South’s coal-fired power plant project.

Therma South, another Aboitiz subsidiary, also announced the proposed expansion of its baseload power plant project to 645 MW from 300 MW capacity, a proposal approved by the Davao City Council last March.

The first 300-MW capacity of Therma South, set for commercial operations in the first half of 2015, is already almost contracted out to distribution utilities and electric cooperatives in Mindanao.

Hedcor develops and operates 21 run-of-river hydropower plants in Benguet, Davao, and Ilocos Sur with a total capacity of 170 MW.