Hedcor breaks ground for Tudaya hydro plant
-A A +ASunday, August 5, 2012
ABOITIZPOWER affiliate Hedcor officially broke ground over the weekend for the construction of the P1.8-billion, seven-megawatt (MW) Tudaya Hydropower 2 Plant in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
Hedcor president Rene Ronquillo and the local and government officials of Davao del Sur led the groundbreaking ceremonies.
The new hydropower plant will be constructed at Barangays Astorga and Rizal in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, harnessing Sibulan River. It will rise downstream of the Sibulan Hydro B plant, 200 meters away from the Davao-Cotobato highway.
“As an AboitizPower 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,” Ronquillo said.
The generating facility will primarily deliver 40.5 gigawatt-hours annually to Davao del Sur Cooperative Inc. (Dasureco), which can power more than 7,000 homes.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremonies, attended by Sta. Cruz Mayor Joel Ray Lopez, Vice Mayor Alexis Almendras, Davao del Sur Provincial officials, Bagobo-Tagabawa community and private sectors, Ronquillo said, “We shall soon have another hydropower plant in Sta. Cruz, a new plant that will deliver solely to Davao del Sur through Dasureco.”
Both the mayor and the vice mayor of Sta. Cruz expressed their gratitude to Hedcor for choosing their municipality as a partner on the project.
Datu Rogelio Manapol of Bagobo-Tagabawa and chairman of Kapiid Ka Banua
said, “Hedcor is true to their promise of helping our tribe in terms of health care, education, livelihood and reforestation. We are grateful for their CSR (corporate social responsibility) projects.”
The Tudaya hydroelectric power plant’s generated carbon neutral electricity is seen to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. It 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.
The construction of the power plant is estimated to be completed by first quarter of 2014 with an investment of P1.8 billion. The project will likewise open more than 400 employment opportunities to locals and bring more benefits to the host communities through its CSR programs. (PR)
Published in the Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro newspaper on August 06, 2012.
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