Tuesday, February 12, 2008 Hedcor spends P500M for ongoing power project By Joy Romares-Sevilla
THE president of the Hedcor Sibulan Inc. (HSI) reported Monday that the company has already poured in a total of P500 million for the ongoing construction of the 42.5 megawatt Sibulan Hydropower Project, one of the largest investments of the Aboitiz group in the hydropower generation business.
HSI is investing P5 billion for the entire project, which was started in June last year and expected to be completed in 2009.
Rene Ronquillo, HSI president, said in Monday's edition of the Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM Entertainment Plaza, that the project, located in Sibulan, Sta. Cruz in Davao del Sur also involves a P56 million project that will pursue organization of community-based service cooperatives.
"When we signed the MOA with the IPs, the barangay, municipality, and the provincial government, we also identified small, big, and major projects. The smaller ones include the assistance to schools. For the big ones, HSI will undertake in various sites the installation of potable water systems. Major projects would include the establishment of additional access roads," Ronquillo said.
Ronquillo said prior to the construction of the project, HSI paid a total of P20 million for the crop damage to farmers in the area affected by the establishment of the project.
"I'd like to think that we are doing our part because before we started with the project, we paid for every tree that was damaged. We have done our best so that the community will also benefit from the project even if it's not yet operational," Ronquillo said.
The project entails the construction of two cascading run-of-river hydropower plants that will tap the Sibulan and Baroring Rivers in Sta. Cruz.
It also includes the construction of five drop intakes, more than 16 kilometers of steel conveyance pipes and conveyance lines to divert the water from the rivers to the plants, and about 27 kilometers of transmission lines to connect the plants to a DLPC substation.
Each of the plants will utilize a head pond to generate more energy during peak hours.
"The possibility of having a power crisis in the near future is the main reason why we came up with the project. We studied the place and the DOE (Department of Energy) approved the project. It was designated by the national government as a crucial project," Ronquillo said.
Ronquillo believes there is no conflict between the establishment of the project and the environment.
"Our project is highly dependent on the watershed areas. We will also be setting aside money for watershed protection and preservation every year. We have to protect the watershed," he said.
