Aboitiz Power Corp. is spending P1 billion to put up the 7-megawatt Tudaya hydropower plant in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
Through its wholly owned subsidiary Hedcor Inc., APC recently broke ground for the construction of the facility, which is an extension project of the company’s 42.5-MW Sibulan hydropower plant in Davao.
“The Tudaya project will provide Davao and Mindanao, as a whole, with reliable, dependable and competitively priced power, thereby strengthening the region’s position as a destination for business, investment and tourism,” APC president Erramon I. Aboitiz said in a statement.
The new hydropower plant, which will harness the Sibulan River, will be constructed within Barangays (villages) Astorga and Rizal in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. It will rise downstream of the Sibulan Hydro B plant, 200 meters away from the Davao-Cotabato highway.
It is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2014, and will generate more than 400 employment opportunities to the locals. The presence of the hydropower facility is expected to bring more benefits to the host communities through the corporate social responsibility programs that Hedcor has lined up.
According to APC, the facility will deliver 40.5 gigawatt-hours yearly to Davao del Sur Cooperative Inc. (Dasureco), enough to power more than 7,000 homes.
The Tudaya hydroelectric power plant, which is seen to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, will be registered under the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project that will sell certified emission reduction units (CERs) to industrialized countries.
“As an APC company and as one of the largest producers of renewable energy in the country, the Tudaya Hydro 2 is our contribution to the worldwide effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” added Hedcor president Rene Ronquillo.
The HedcorTudaya 2 project formed part of the APC’s planned power portfolio in Mindanao.