United Holdings to build Bukidnon hydro facility

A new player in the renewable energy industry, United Holdings Power Corp. (UHPC), is set to build a 15-megawatt (MW) hydroelectric power plant in Bukidnon province, with a long-term view of replicating the project in other parts of electricity-starved Mindanao.

UHPC president Dominic Sytin said in a briefing that his company has recently completed the feasibility study for the project and has obtained a service contract from the Department of Energy (DOE).

Sytin said the completion of the full feasibility study signals an important milestone for the project, which is seen to benefit not only Bukidnon but the Mindanao grid as a whole.

The company’s 15-MW upper and lower cascasing mini-hydro project will tap the Maladugao River in Lampanusan, Kalilangan, Bukidnon.

Consultant engineer Manuel Vergel III said that the entry of new players such as UHPC is important in an industry where serious investments are badly needed so that power capacity in the country’s grids can catch up with booming demand amid accelerating economic growth.

Vergel said UHPC’s project will generate more than 100 gigawatt-hours (GW) of additional energy to help ease the power shortage in Mindanao by the second quarter of 2017.

“Our company is supporting the DOE’s Power Development Plan and Philippine Energy Plan, which aim to increase the Philippines’ self-sufficiency in energy using environment friendly, cleaner fuel,” Sytin said.

Hydroelectric power is seen as a good entry-level technology for new players because it is readily renewable, making it more acceptable to host communities, for long-term use of up to 50 or more years, Vergel said.  Riza T. Olchondra