Hydropower rocks, man. On a trip to Davao, representatives from AboitizPower Corporation took us to its hydroelectric plant operated by Hedcor Sibulan Inc. in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. The Sibulan Plant (composed of plants A and B which tap the Baroring and Sibulan River, respectively) generates 42.5 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Plants A and B are projected to generate a combined total of 212 million kilowatt hours of clean energy. A useful bit of info: One megawatt is equivalent to servicing the electricity requirements of 500 to 600 households. And there are 17 power plants all in all. So we get the picture even if the math and science are a bit harder to get.
Plant B is a design wonder. Two massive primary-blue pipes with primary-yellow bases are the centerpieces of the structure that looks more like the hangar of a 747 Pop Art airplane. Fly the friendly skies with Air Warhol. But the use of colors (emerald green here, orange there) is not the only thing to marvel at the plant. You see, the Sibulan Plant purveys what its representatives characterize as “cleanergy (clean + renewable energy).” AboitizPower publicist Chris Cahilig qualifies the word “cleanergy” as something that is “produced from either hydro or geothermal energy sources.”
The vision of AboitizPower is that, in the future, every Filipino household will have the option to use the type of power source that will supply its electricity needs. Said a Hedcor Sibulan rep, “And we hope that the first choice of power source would be a ‘clean-air’ source, something that would not pollute the environment. So we hope to accomplish this with our cleanergy brand.”
Cleanergy in its uncomplicated sense would be something that would have little or no adverse effects at all on the environment. There would have to be no emission of carbon dioxide, nor pose any threat to the area’s eco-balance or natural habitat. Tall order. A really tall order.
For such end, they came up with run-of-river hydropower. And this, we were told, “uses the natural flow and elevation drop of a river to generate electricity, and does not require a large impoundment of water — thus it is environment-friendly.” It is dependant on the natural flow of rivers.
Here is how the plant operates:
The flow of the Sibulan River is diverted through the Weir; then it goes to the Desander (where the water sediments settle into the bottom, and where non-biodegradable trash is filtered out); then it goes to a pipe called the Conveyance Line; then it goes to the Headpond; then it drops at a certain angle through the Penstock; and then it goes directly down to the power plant itself where — as the culmination of the entire process — the turbine and generators convert all this hydropower into mechanical energy and ultimately into electricity.
And then there is light. But light is not all there is.
As reported in The Philippine STAR last September, “The Sibulan hydroelectric power plant’s generated carbon neutral electricity is seen to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” and “is the first hydropower facility in the country registered under the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change as a clean development mechanism (CDM) project.”
Hedcor Sibulan has also “opened and rehabilitated 49 kilometers of farm-to-market roads in Sibulan and Tibolo. These roads provide faster and more efficient means to transport crops and farm produce.”
Education is Power
We were told that more than 50 percent of Aboitiz Foundation projects are focused on education. To date, at least 15,000 students have benefited from its scholarship program. Aboitiz Foundation currently supports 1,300 students annually, investing P3 to P4 million every year.
In fact, a number of Aboitiz senior executives came from the ranks of scholars, said one rep. “Aside from our scholarship program we’re also donating classrooms, computer laboratories and refurbishments. We implement this to help narrow the classroom shortage and to provide safety for both students and teachers. We’re also donating computers to public schools and conducting computerization program to address their limited skills in computer operations.”
Most of Aboitiz Foundation scholars graduate from their respective courses and become professionals or entrepreneurs.
Maybe, just maybe, in the future some of them will invent even more efficient sources of cleanergy.