Bakun hydro plant repair to be delayed

Business World Online

Posted on May 25, 2012 07:42:16 PM

ABOITIZ POWER Corp. expects repair work on its hydroelectric power plant in Ilocos Norte to take longer than earlier estimated, a disclosure on Friday showed.

“The tunnel lining repair on the Bakun plant will not be completed as scheduled this June 2012. Luzon Hydro Corp. expects the repairs to be completed by October of this year,” the company said in its disclosure, referring to its wholly owned subsidiary in charge of running the 70-megawatt plant.

Aboitiz Power could not be reached for further details.

Aboitiz Power took full ownership of Luzon Hydro in May 2011. The Bakun hydropower facility is a run-of-river power plant which began operation in 2001 under a build-operate-transfer contract with the National Power Corp.

Aboitiz Power closed the first quarter with a 10% growth in its consolidated net income to P5.6 billion from P5.1 billion. Its core net income went up 9% to P5.1 billion from P4.7 billion.

This increase was mainly due to the higher demand for power and the 5% increase in its average selling price.

Shares of Aboitiz Power closed at P33.75, down 0.44% from its previous close of P33.90 a piece. -- Emilia Narni J. David    source