Aboitiz Power resumes operation of Ambuklao hydroelectric facility

Manila Times.net

A JOINT venture led by Aboitiz Power Corp. (AP) has resumed operations of the newly rehabilitated Ambuklao Hydroelectric Power Plant.

Emmanuel Rubio, chief executive officer of SN Aboitiz Power-Benguet (SNAP-Benguet), said the Ambuklao plant went online on June 1 with the commercial operation of its Unit 3 turbine.

Rubio said SNAP-Benguet has received a Certificate of Registration for Ambuklao’s Unit 3 as a participant in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

“Earlier in May, the Ambuklao’s Unit 3 underwent its successful rotation and synchronization to the Luzon Grid,” the executive said, adding that the plant now has 35 megawatts (MW) of capacity after two years of rehabilitation.

Rubio said they also expect the rehabilitation of two more units to be completed in the third quarter.

Purchased in 2008, Ambuklao plant’s rehabilitation began the same year to restore the facility and increase its capacity from 75 MW to 105.

The rehabilitation is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter, enabling a fully operational Ambuklao plant by the end of the year.

“The Ambuklao plant upgrade is another notable engineering feat entailing the construction of a new intake, headrace and penstock, elevation of tailrace tunnel outlet, de-silting of tailrace tunnel and replacement of electro-mechanical components,” Rubio said.

SNAP-Benguet’s renovations on its other facility, the Binga Power Plant, are ongoing. Begun in 2010, the refurbishment will upgrade the plant from 100 MW to 120 MW one unit at a time within three to four years.

Despite extensive plant rehabilitation, SNAP-Benguet’s Ambuklao and Binga plants own a remarkable safety record. As of April, they posted a combined 3.75 million man-hours of zero lost time incidents arising from workplace injury.

Built in 1956, Ambuklao was the first among the country’s largest hydroelectric power plants with an original installed capacity of 75 MW. Siltation and other technical problems caused by the 1990 earthquake that struck Benguet led to suspension of plant operations in 1999.

SNAP-Benguet is a joint venture between SN Power of Norway and AP.JAMES KONSTANTIN GALVEZ