Thursday, May 15, 2014

New hydropower plant augments energy supply in Davao del Sur

STA. CRUZ, Davao del Sur, May 15 (PIA) – One of the newly-operated hydro power plants of Hedcor built in this town has brought relief to the entire province as it boosts power supply adequate to cover the daily requirement of 40 megawatts.

Engr. GodofredoGuya, general manager of the Davao del Sur Electric Cooperative, said the 7MW supplied by Hedcor’sTudaya 2 hydropower plant in BarangayAstorga, Sta. Cruz town since March this year has helped addressed the power curtailment experienced last year.

The run-of-river hydropower plant was recently inaugurated to its full operation along with Tudaya 1 hydropower plant with a capacity of 6.6MW located in BarangaySibulan, also in Sta. Cruz, which serves the Davao Light and Power Company in Davao City.

With this additional capacity, DASURECO has assured that it has sufficient power supply as of the moment to provide for its over a hundred thousand customers from the provinces of Davao del Sur and Davao Occidental.

Last year, DASURECO entered into a power supply agreement (PSA) with Alsons Energy Development Corporation in December last year for the rental of diesel-fueled modular generator sets with a capacity of 15MW until 2016.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla, who graced the inauguration rites of Hedcor’s newest hydropower plants on Tuesday, lauded DASURECO for being able to employ strategies in addressing the previous energy deficiency in the province pegged at 12-13MW.

Petilla cited the electric cooperative’s decision to utilize modular generator sets which is as one of the short-term solutions which is being pushed to mitigate the power supply deficiency in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, Sta. Cruz Mayor Joel Ray Lopez has also shared that the additional power supply from Hedcor’s hydropower plant would give assurance to the business sector especially in his town which is an industrial area.

He said, aside from the power benefit, Hedcor’s projects have also brought various forms of assistance to the local government unit and to the host communities especially to the Bagobo-Tagabawa tribe.

The mayor cited the 30-kilometer road network going to Mt. Apo area, which is now being conveniently used by farmers to bring down their products to the market.

Rogelio Manapol, chieftain of the Bagobo-Tagabawa Unified Ancestral Domain, was thankful for the power development introduced in their community and all other benefits “extended to our people in the form of royalties, basic social services, infrastructures, water system development, bridges and many others.”

“It is rest assured that the indigenous people within the Bagobo-Tagabawa Unified Ancestral Domain, especially the leaders are strongly supporting the projects considering that it does not only benefit the IP community, but also do good to the LGU in trying to solve power crisis in the country, especially in Davao del Sur,” the tribal chieftain stated. (PIA-11/Carina L. Cayon)

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