Mindanaotoday.com | Envi group urges immediate rehab of Mindanao’s Agus-Pulangui hydropower plant
By: Jigger Jerusalem
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Believing in urgency of bringing one of the Philippines’s biggest producers of renewable energy to its optimum capacity, an environmental group is urging the national government Wednesday, July 6, to fast track the proposed rehabilitation of Bukidnon’s Agus-Pulangui hydropower complex (APHPC).
The Power of People Coalition (P4P) said repair and maintenance works must start immediately to address the energy situation in the country, especially in Mindanao.
“This effort will help Mindanao reap the benefits of a clean energy facility that was under-utilized for decades,” said Gerry Arances, P4P convenor.
Skyrocketing prices, he said, “demonstrate to us the urgency of moving away from fossil fuels and Mindanao now has the opportunity to do that. Agus-Pulangui should be the starting point for a rapid and massive transition from coal and fossil fuel-based energy in Mindanao.”
The issue on the APHPC was revived after the Department of Finance (DOF) announced it will undertake the power facility’s rehabilitation estimated at P16.71 billion to be funded through a loan.
Although the planned rehabilitation has not yet been approved by the National Economic and Development Authority, the DOF said it is now finetuning a proposed arrangement with the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation and National Power Corporation on the funding rollout.
But, he said, the government should take this opportunity to make the project sustainable not just environmentally, but fiscally as well by not funding it through loans.
“We should not undermine Mindanao and the Philippines’ massive potential and right to access climate and clean energy finance. This effort should not also become a precedent to potential privatization of the facilities, which will only bring suffering upon consumers,” Arances said.
According to the DOF, the project is divided into two projects, the first series will involve the rehabilitation of the Agus IV, V, VI, and VII plants in the APHPC, which is expected to generate a total rated capacity of 417.1 megawatts, said Melchor Ridulme, NPC OIC senior vice president, in his report to then Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.
Ridulme said the second series will rehabilitate Agus I, II, and the Pulangi IV plants, which will generate a total rated capacity of 515 MW.
“Series of Project 1 is already pending approval by the NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority), and the MOA for the proposed arrangement for the loan is being reviewed by the DOF,” Ridulme said in his report during a recent DOF Executive Committee (Execom) meeting.
Out of the 1,001 MW of installed capacity of the APHC, only 600-700 MW is currently available, partly because of the limitations of its ageing equipment.
Ridulme said the Series of Project (SOP) 1 is estimated to cost P10.19 billion, while SOP 2 is about P6.52 billion, based on a study done by the World Bank (WB).
The rehabilitation of the APHC plants is among the major projects of former Pres. Duterte that will be turned over to the new administration, Ridulme said.
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