Business World Online
Posted on September 04, 2011 09:35:49 PM
THE NATIONAL Power Corp. (Napocor) has decided to slash spending for the rehabilitation of the Pulangui hydroelectric facilities by cutting down on river dredging work, an official said.
“The dredging of Pulangui will be implemented but it will be selective dredging now. It will be cheaper because we expect to spend anywhere from P600 million to P1.2 billion depending on the areas that will be dredged,” President Froilan A. Tampinco told reporters last week.
The new spending range is lower than the P2-billion ceiling set earlier for the Pulangui rehabilitation, a bulk of which was to be funneled to pay for dredging.
The total bill including the upgrade of the complementary Agus hydropower plant would have been P3 billion under earlier estimates.
The Pulangui hydropower plant in Bukidnon generates 255 megawatts (MW) and began operations in 1985.
It consists of three units generating 85 MW each.
The Agus hydropower plant, meanwhile, has six cascading units with a combined generation total of 700 MW. The first of the six units was constructed in 1953 and the newest one started operation in 1992.
Agus is located in the two Lanao provinces.
Both plants provide baseload energy to Mindanao and makes up about 55% of the region’s power source.
Work will likely start next year, Mr. Tampinco said, contrary to this year as planned as the government wanted to determine which parts of the river to dig up.
Napocor had also been urging the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) to release funds it needed to begin.
Napocor needs to source its funds from PSALM because it has been barred by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA) to raise fund for projects in power generation.
The Energy department earlier said it wants to rehabilitate and increase the capacity of both plants and asked Congress to allow it to defer privatization.
One of the units in the Agus power plant complex was also expected to be rehabilitated this year but Mr. Tampinco said Napocor needs to get approval for the repair again.
“For the rehabilitation of the Agus 6 unit, we need to get re-approval from the NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) because the approval we earlier got lapsed. Our new petition already went through the NEDA-Investment Coordination Committee, so we’re only waiting for the NEDA board’s approval,” said Mr. Tampinco.
He added once Napocor gets approval, it will seek funding from PSALM.
The rehabilitation of Agus 6 is now estimated to cost P2.45 billion and will increase the capacity of the 52-MW unit to 69 MW.
Mr. Tampinco said there will be an implementation schedule for the rehabilitation “so more or less we will be asked how much we will spend on the first year and so on.”
Companies have expressed interest in the the plants but pointed out that its size will cause the companies to breach the limit on generation capacities set by the EPIRA. -- Emilia Narni J. David
The new spending range is lower than the P2-billion ceiling set earlier for the Pulangui rehabilitation, a bulk of which was to be funneled to pay for dredging.
The total bill including the upgrade of the complementary Agus hydropower plant would have been P3 billion under earlier estimates.
The Pulangui hydropower plant in Bukidnon generates 255 megawatts (MW) and began operations in 1985.
It consists of three units generating 85 MW each.
The Agus hydropower plant, meanwhile, has six cascading units with a combined generation total of 700 MW. The first of the six units was constructed in 1953 and the newest one started operation in 1992.
Agus is located in the two Lanao provinces.
Both plants provide baseload energy to Mindanao and makes up about 55% of the region’s power source.
Work will likely start next year, Mr. Tampinco said, contrary to this year as planned as the government wanted to determine which parts of the river to dig up.
Napocor had also been urging the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) to release funds it needed to begin.
Napocor needs to source its funds from PSALM because it has been barred by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA) to raise fund for projects in power generation.
The Energy department earlier said it wants to rehabilitate and increase the capacity of both plants and asked Congress to allow it to defer privatization.
One of the units in the Agus power plant complex was also expected to be rehabilitated this year but Mr. Tampinco said Napocor needs to get approval for the repair again.
“For the rehabilitation of the Agus 6 unit, we need to get re-approval from the NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) because the approval we earlier got lapsed. Our new petition already went through the NEDA-Investment Coordination Committee, so we’re only waiting for the NEDA board’s approval,” said Mr. Tampinco.
He added once Napocor gets approval, it will seek funding from PSALM.
The rehabilitation of Agus 6 is now estimated to cost P2.45 billion and will increase the capacity of the 52-MW unit to 69 MW.
Mr. Tampinco said there will be an implementation schedule for the rehabilitation “so more or less we will be asked how much we will spend on the first year and so on.”
Companies have expressed interest in the the plants but pointed out that its size will cause the companies to breach the limit on generation capacities set by the EPIRA. -- Emilia Narni J. David
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