More hydro projects soon in Benguet, Ilocos Sur

By Dexter A. See 

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The Hydroelectric Development Corporation (HEDCOR) Inc. is planning to rehabilitate and put up more renewable energy plants in the different parts of the province and neighboring Ilocos Sur to maximize the utilization and development of potential sources of renewable energy and help develop host and neighboring communities.

            Christopher Sangster, HEDCOR Inc. Director for Project Development, said included in the company’s overall renewable development plan is the rehabilitation and upgrading of its Bineng power plant in this capital town to increase its capacity from 5 to 19 megawatts with the  state-of-the-art equipment for more efficient power generation from the current water supply of the Balili river system.

            He revealed the free and prior informed consent (FPIC) process for its Bineng plants and their proposed 45-megawatt Nalatang hydropower project in Kabayan is ongoing for completion by mid-2017.

            “We will continue to be resilient in our bid to develop potential sources of hydropower to help develop host and neighboring communities because environmental preservation and protection side by side with countryside development are important to us,” Sangster stressed.

            HEDCOR Inc. is also looking into the possibility of establishing renewable energy plants in Buguias, Bokod, Kibungan and Mankayan towns and in Sugpon and Cervantes, Ilocos Sur to boost the maximum potential of the river systems in the said places to produce renewable energy to infuse the grid with clean energy.

            According to him, the company continues to embark on a sustainable and aggressive environmental program with over 205,000 assorted tree seedlings planted within its areas of operation in the different parts of the country which exceeded the 189,000 assorted tree seedlings it planted in its project sites last year.

            HEDCOR Inc. owns and operates some 22 power plants in the different parts of the country and of the said number of existing hydropower plants, 13 are in Luzon with Benguet hosting 11 while the remaining two are in Alilem, Ilocos Sur and Sabangan, Mountain Province.

            Sangster pointed out the company remains optimistic that more hydropower plants will be set up in their identified project sites after having secured the consent of the host and neighboring communities to help guarantee rural development in their prospective areas of operation.

            He pointed out the need for the company to partner with host and neighboring communities and the sustainable preservation and protection of the environment to efficiently produce clean energy through its run-off system which has been effectively and efficiently used in its various power generation plants nationwide.