Agus, Pulangui hydropower plants Hold privatization of Mindanao assets

Manila Bulletin 
By Myrna M. Velasco 
Published: April 18, 2013 
Business groups in Mindanao are supporting proposals to temporarily stop the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) from divesting the remaining government power assets in the area.
This was set forth by the Mindanao Business Council, which is an aggrupation of 44 local business chambers and 11 major industry sectors.
It noted that it is supporting the policy proposal of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) to President Aquino stopping PSALM “from selling Mindanao power plants to private operators.”
The privatization of the Agus and Pulangui hydropower assets had been one of the recommendations during the 2012 Power Summit in Mindanao. However, several technical as well as legal hurdles have been preventing PSALM from moving forward with the divestiture plan.
It was similarly noted by MinDA that a provision in the Annex of the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement may eventually stall any plan to privatize the Agus hydropower complex. This was based on the ownership implications of Lake Lanao, which is the major source of water utilized for the Agus plants.
MinDA, along with various stakeholders have been scouring for short- to long-term solutions to finally end the lingering brownout woes of Mindanao consumers.
The latest undertaking it had so far was “cloud seeding operations over Lake Lanao,” purposively to trigger rains and increased water inflow for the Agus complex.
It noted that “a team of cloud seeding experts from the Bureau of Soils and Water Management of DA (Department of Agriculture) has been dispatched to the area to assess the viability of weather condition and cloud formation for the cloud seeding operations.”
According to MinDA chairperson Luwalhati Antonino, “the cloud seeding is among the recent recommendations presented to the President as part of the government’s quick measures to bridge power supply shortfall in Mindanao.”
While state-run National Power Corporation (NPC) has been trying to maintain a reliable water elevation for the Agus complex, an increased rainfall triggered through cloud seeding would be able to improve water inflow; and this could shore up the capacity of the hydro generating units to 500 megawatts from 450MW.   source