Department of Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho
Petilla lauded Hedcor for its newest Tudaya 1&2 hydropower plants
contributing 13.6MW of clean and renewable to the Mindanao Grid.
“Availability is
important when it comes to power. Sure that the 13MW cannot solve the power
crisis in Mindanao but it provides a long term benefit to the grid. It is the
dependability not the size that matters,” the Secretary said during the
inauguration on May 13 in Sta Cruz, Davao del Sur.
Speaking in the event,
Mayor Joel Ray Lopez professed, “Hedcor’s entry is the best thing that happened
to us.”
Concurring with the
launching is the issuance of a Notice to Proceed for the Darong-Sibulan
electrification project as one of the benefits of the host community. Also, the
town is anticipating a road opening that will serve as a farm to market road
for the residents in the area.
The two hydropower
plants mark Hedcor’s 20th and 21st plant augmenting its total capacity to 170MW
from its hydropower plants in Benguet, Ilocos Sur, Davao City and Davao del
Sur.
Hedcor’s President and
COO Rene Ronquillo highlighted the participation of the community in the making
of the hydropower plants. “Beginning the construction up to now that the
facility is running we have the solid support from the community.”
Representing the
Indigenous People community, Datu Ronaldo Manapol of the Bagobo Tagabawa tribe
expressed his gratitude for the development not just to the advancement of the
IP community but also the entire locality.
The Tudaya 1 and
Tudaya 2 hydropower plant resides at Barangay Sibulan and Barangay Astorga in
Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. The construction of the hydropower facility started
in the last quarter of 2012 with a total investment of 2.5 billion pesos.
The hydro facilities
will be supplying two distribution utilities which are Davao Light and Power
Company and Davao del Sur Electric Cooperative.
Since it began operating last March, the hydropower plant generated
about seven million kilowatt hours at the peak of summer season.
As host to the power
plants, Davao del Sur will benefit from the taxes, royalties and shares from
the hydropower plant. Aside from these, Hedcor conducts corporate social
responsibility programs to the locality catering to the educational, health,
livelihood and environmental needs of the host.
As the leading force in run-of-river hydropower development in the country, Hedcor proactively seeks better solutions towards a better future. With its vision of generating 2billion kWhs of Cleanergy by 2020, Hedcor develops and operates efficient hydropower systems. Hedcor is a subsidiary of AboitizPower.
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