New hydropower plants energize Davao del Sur

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Davao del Sur is now given assurance of a 40-megawatt (MW) power supply provided by one of the newly operated hydropower plants of Hedcor Inc. in Sta. Cruz town.

Engineer Godofredo Guya, general manager of the Davao del Sur Electric Cooperative (Dasureco), said the supply of 7 MW by Hedcor’s Tudaya 2 hydropower plant in Barangay Astorga, Sta. Cruz town since last March has helped address the power curtailment experienced since last year.

The run-of-river hydropower plant was recently inaugurated to its full operation along with the 6.6-MW Tudaya 1 hydropower plant in Barangay Sibulan, also in Sta. Cruz, which serves the Davao Light and Power Co. in Davao City.

With this additional capacity, Dasureco has given assurance that it has sufficient power supply for its over a hundred thousand customers in Davao del Sur and Davao Occidental.

Dasureco entered into a power supply agreement with Alsons Energy Development Corp. last December for the rental of diesel-fueled modular generator sets with a capacity of 15 MW until 2016.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla, who graced the inauguration of Hedcor’s newest hydropower plants on Tuesday, lauded Dasureco for being able to employ strategies in addressing the 12-13 MW energy shortfall in the province. 

Petilla cited the electric cooperative’s decision to utilize modular generator sets as a short-term solution to mitigate the power deficiency in Mindanao.