The Department of Finance (DOF) is now finetuning a proposed arrangement with the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) and National Power Corp. (NPC) on the funding rollout and implementation of the estimated P16.71-billion rehabilitation projects for the decades-old facilities in the Agus-Pulangi Hydropower Plant Complex (APHPC) in Mindanao.

Under the proposed memorandum of agreement (MOA), the DOF will be the main implementing agency, loan borrower and budget holder, and loan borrower for the rehabilitation projects, while the PSALM and NPC, as owner and operator, respectively, of the APHPC will both serve as the implementing units.

Divided into two projects, the first series will involve the rehabilitation of the Agus IV, V, VI, and VII plants in the APHPC, which is expected to generate a total rated capacity of 417.1 megawatts, said NPC Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Senior Vice President Melchor Ridulme in his report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

Ridulme said the second series will rehabilitate Agus I, II, and the Pulangi IV plants, which will generate a total rated capacity of 515 MW.

“Series of Project 1 is already pending approval by the NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority), and the MOA for the proposed arrangement for the loan is being reviewed by the DOF,” Ridulme said in his report during a recent DOF Executive Committee (Execom) meeting.

Out of the 1,001 MW of installed capacity of the APHC, only 600-700 MW is currently available, partly because of the limitations of its ageing equipment.

Ridulme said the Series of Project (SOP) 1 is estimated to cost P10.19 billion, while SOP 2 is about P6.52 billion, based on a study done by the World Bank (WB).

The rehabilitation of the APHC plants is among the major projects of President Duterte that will be turned over to the next administration, Ridulme said.

APHC’s rehabilitation aims not only to ensure the reliability of power supply in Mindanao but also to accelerate the country’s shift to clean energy sources.

The APHC consists of seven mostly run-of-river hydropower plants with a total installed capacity of 1,001 MW.

Six of the seven hydropower plants are located along the Agus River which flows for 36.5 kilometers (km) from Lanao Lake to Iligan Bay.

The seventh hydropower plant is the Pulangi 4, located on the Pulangi River in Bukidnon.

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