By
Redjie Cawis
ITOGON, Benguet-- The 50-year-old Binga Dam
in Tingongdan , this town is now fully rehabilitated and is ready
to serve the province of Benuet and strengthen the power of the Luzon grid.
On Thursday, the SN Aboitiz Power – Benguet
inaugurated the newly refurbished Binga Hydro Electric Power Plant
attended by SN-Abiotiz officials from Norway and the Philippines
together with partners from the provincial government of Benguet led by Gov.
Nestor Fongwan, and the municipality of Itogon led by Mayor Victoriano Palangdan
with stakeholders, indigenous peoples and the private sector..
SNAP president Emmanuel Rubio said the
operation of the Binga Dam was start of another 50 more years of
contributing renewable energy to the Luzon grid. “This is step forward
towards achieving the vision of the largest renewable energy provider in the
country and today is a dream that started five years ago.”
According to Mike Hosillos,SNAP vice
president for corporate communications, Binga hydroelectric plant is now
operating at 125 megawatts (MW) to a maximum of 132 MW from its original
capacity of 100MW in 2008 when the facility together with Ambuklao Dam was
taken over for privatization by the company.
Hosillos said since the start of the
renovation of the power facility in 2010, the SNAP has replaced and repaired
most of the major parts of the dam.
The required massive upgrades to be able to
operate and increase capacity included a new intake at higher elevation, new
headrace, replacement and modernization of plant control system and replacement
of electro-mechanical components.
SNAP acquired its Certificate of Compliance
(COC) from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) early October marking the
25-megawatt increase of renewable energy supplied to the Luzon grid.
Binga is the second plant that SNAP-Benguet
has rehabilitated to achieve modern, state-of-the-art level under its thrust of
operational excellence.
The Ambuklao Hydroelectric Power Plant was
inaugurated in 2011 and since then has been operating and contributing 105 MW
to the Luzon grid.
The increase in capacity translates to a
higher generation of power for Luzon as well as trading in the open energy
market.
Benguet is a source of renewable energy
because of the presence of abundant water supply that helps in the production
of clean energy to address the increasing demand for power as a result of rapid
urbanization in various investment areas nationwide.
Meanwhile, Fongwan conveyed his gratitude to
the SNAP for the development and rehabilitation of the Binga Dam which he said
is a great help for the development of the municipality of Itogon
and the province of Benguett hrough its shares from the taxes and
revenues as well as corporate social responsibility (CSR)
activities of the SNAP.
Hosillos said that besides the provision of
the renewable, reliable, and sustainable energy, the local government units
would also benefit from the different added revenue and the taxes by the
operation of the dams in the province.
Rubio said that the company will l not
only conduct CSR activities for the benefit of the community but make the
community partners in development.
Ifugao Gov. Dennis Habawel, who was a guest
during the inauguration, said that he learned
a lot from the operations of the SNAP and the dams in Benguet and
he hopes to impart in the operation of the Magat Dam which is being
hosted by Ifugao under the SN Aboitiz Power .
The inauguration program was also highlighted
by indigenous rituals by the Ibaloi community in Binga to ask the gods for
blessing and follow the cultural practices of the host community.
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