Casecnan builder eyeing another dam in Central Luzon

GAPAN CITY — The builder of the $600-million Casecnan multipurpose irrigation and power project is eyeing the construction of another hydroelectric dam in Central Luzon to augment the existing water supply to Metro Manila.

The California Energy Casecnan II Inc. (CECI), an affiliate of MidAmerican Holdings, recently forged a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for the P8.3-billion Balintingon reservoir multipurpose project.

NIA administrator Baltazar Usis told The STAR that the CECI initially agreed to finance an updated feasibility study for the Balintingon project, which is projected to irrigate 18,800 hectares of farmlands in the eastern section of Central Luzon, particularly in Nueva Ecija, Bulacan and Pampanga.

Usis said the project’s original feasibility study was completed in the early 80s and the CECI offered to undertake a new study suited to the present economic conditions.

He said Nueva Ecija Gov. Tomas Joson III welcomed the entry of the CECI in the Balintingon project.

The CECI is an international leader in the development and production of energy from diversified fuel sources, including geothermal, natural gas and hydroelectric.

Its affiliates and subsidiaries funded the construction of the Casecnan Dam under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme.

The project, whose BOT phase was completed in 2001, involved the construction of a 26-kilometer, 6.5-meter diameter underground transbasin tunnel, which diverts 800 million cubic meters of water from the Casecnan and Taang rivers in Nueva Vizcaya to the Pantabangan Dam in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija.

The Casecnan Dam irrigates 35,000 hectares of farmlands in the Nueva Ecija towns of Cuyapo, Guimba, Muñoz, Nampicuan and Talugtug and generates 150 megawatts of hydroelectric power for the Luzon grid.

It also ensures year-round irrigation to 102,000 hectares of farmlands in Central Luzon serviced by the Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (UPRIIS), which operates the Pantabangan Dam.

The Casecnan Dam’s irrigation component, which involves the construction of a 64-kilometer superdiversion canal, is underway.

CECI president Joseph Sullivan said the Balintingon project may be capable of supporting a water supply component that would significantly meet the irrigation requirements of the Angat Dam in Bulacan.

Sullivan said Angat’s water reserves for irrigation could be channeled to meet the potable water requirements of Metro Manila.

Under the MOU, a copy of which was furnished The STAR, the CECI will undertake the Balintingon project at its own expense and at no cost to the Philippine government.

The company will also consider conducting further studies on preliminary engineering and environmental assessment.

The NIA and the MWSS will both assist the CECI in the project’s technical, economic and financial studies.

Aside from Usis and Sullivan, the MOU’s other signatory was MWSS administrator Orlando Hondrade.

Witnessing the signing were Raymond Cunningham, CalEnergy International Ltd. business development manager, and Edilberto Payawal, NIA’s acting assistant administrator for systems operations and equipment management and concurrent manager of the systems management department.

Cunningham said they are also eyeing a 40- to 50-megawatt hydroelectric plant for the Balintingon project.