Korean company to invest P35B in hydro project

June 25, 2017 Metro BLISTT

A Korean company will invest P35 billion for a 500-megawatt power project in Kibungan, Benguet, to help address the country’s thinning power supply.
Larry Hovon Kim, chairman of the Board of the Coheco Badeo Corporation, said the company’s proposed hydropower project worth P35 billion will make a major contribution to the country’s source of energy, livelihood and tourism particularly in the province of Benguet.
Coheco Badeo Technical Officer James Kim said the project will produce 500 megawatts of electricity. It will use an impounding facility on a 15.2-hectare land which will be located on a higher elevation, capable of producing more power that will emanate from the pressure created by the higher source of water.
Kim said the pumped storage hydropower plant model provides the complete and strategic solution to the thinning power reserves in the country, particularly in Luzon.
Badeo Engineering Officer Jason A. Polinag said the project will install its powerhouse underground with a cavern 300 meters under the surface. Two power generating facilities will be installed, producing 250 megawatts each.
The tailrace tunnel which is 5.4 meters in diameter will run from the outlet manifold to the open reservoir with a total length of 470 meters.
The company officers said the the proposed project had already been presented to House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and has been endorsed for implementation.
He, however, said that they were told to first comply with all the necessary permits in the implementation of the project as a requirement in all ventures in the country. TARLA F. TINGAL/PNA / ABN