SMC, K-Water seek contractors for Angat

The joint venture between Korea Water Resources Development Corp. (K-Water) and San Miguel Corp. are looking for local or foreign contractors for the rehabilitation of the Angat hydroelectric power facility.

“Two local and one foreign,” Geung-Jeon Han, president of Angat Hydro Power Corp. (AHPC), said when asked how many potential contractors were being considered for the project.

In the meantime, AHPC is finalizing studies on the rehabilitation requirements through foreign consultant Poyry. The studies, which are expected to be finished around mid-2015, include research on strengthening the dikes in the Angat facility and minimizing its vulnerability to disasters such as earthquakes.

The rehabilitation, which could be done around 2017, will be undertaken to ensure that the power output, water supply and irrigation functions of the dam will continue smoothly.

Government experts earlier confirmed that Angat Dam was nestling along the West Valley fault line and could collapse if jolted by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake.

Ma. Gladdys C. Sta. Rita, president of the government-run National Power Corp., erstwhile operator of the Angat Dam Hydroelectric Power Plant, said K-Water started managing Angat Dam on Nov. 1, 2014.

“Four years after the auction of the Angat Dam Hydro-electric Power Plant as part of the privatization of government’s power asset, K-Water finally took possession of the plant,” Sta. Rita said.

The takeover became official on Oct. 31, 2014 during the signing of the joint certificate of turnover of the Angat Hydroelectric Power Plant at the New World Hotel in Makati City.

Sta. Rita added that “though the Angat Hydro Power Plant was privatized, Napocor will continue to be responsible with the Angat Dam and its watershed.”

“The rehabilitation of Angat dam is a go, that’s in the agreement,” SMC president Ramon Ang said. The US consortium with expertise on dams, Poyry Plc, has recommendations on the rehab, Ang said.

Ang said he had traveled to Korea and signed the partnership with utilities firm K-Water to rehabilitate and operate the 218MW component of the 47-year-old, 246MW Angat hydroelectric power plant in Norzagaray, Bulacan.

Due to foreign ownership restrictions on utilities in the Philippines, K-Water can only take a 40-percent stake in Angat.

With SMC as the main local partner, the company can now look for other potential partners to join.

First Gen Corp. has been considered as another local partner. Ang said that possibility would be explored later after the partnership with K-Water has been signed.

Last year, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) formally turned over the project to K-Water.