Casecnan Multipurpose Project and Manablon Power House (A25)

BACKGROUND

The 140-megawatt (MW) Casecnan Multipurpose Project and Manablon Powerhouse (CMP) in Dupax, Nueva Vizcaya is a combined irrigation and hydroelectric power project initiated by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA). The CMP was built for the following purposes:

  • To generate power and improve the operating performance of the existing downstream hydroelectric power plants in Pantabangan and Masiway.

  • To irrigate an additional 31,000 hectares of agricultural lands and stabilize the water supply to 102,000 hectares of existing irrigated areas. This will result in an additional harvest of 465,000 tons of rice per year, which is crucial to the Philippines’s goal of attaining self-sufficiency in rice production.

  • To provide additional water sources to the Pantabangan Reservoir from the Casecnan watershed by transporting excess water from the Casecnan and Taan rivers through 30-meter weirs and the 26-kilometer trans-basin tunnel into the reservoir.

The power component of the CMP will generate an additional 150-MW hydroelectric power, which will be flowed through the Luzon Grid. Energy produced from the CMP is by nonpolluting and renewable.

There are two contracts involved in the CE Casecnan deal:

  1. The NIA entered into an unsolicited Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract with California Energy on 13 November 1994. Under the BOT scheme, the NIA will pay for the water flowed through the trans-basin tunnel into the reservoir and the hydroelectric power generated by the project.

  2. The National Power Corporation and the NIA forged a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) on 30 June 1995 on the hydroelectric power generated by the project for a total cooperation period of 20 years.

The plant started its commercial operations on 05 April 2002

PROJECT PROFILE

 

Plant Name

140-MW Casecnan Multipurpose Project and Manablon Powerhouse

Name of Independent Power Producer

NIA through BOT with California Energy Casecnan Water and Energy Company, Inc.

Power Plant Structure

Hydroelectric power plant utilizing Casecnan and Taan Rivers as sources of hydroelectric power

Location

Dupax, Nueva Vizcaya

Installed Capacity

140 MW

PROJECT RATIONALE

On 13 November 1994, the NIA entered into a BOT Agreement with CE Casecnan Water and Energy Company, Inc. for the design, construction, ownership, operation, financing, and transfer of the Casecnan Multipurpose Project. One of the objectives of the project is to provide irrigation system to farmer-beneficiaries and to promote agricultural development in the country. A power component was included to optimize the water resources in energy generation, which increased the viability of the project.

As an offshoot of the contract between the NIA and the Casecnan Water and Energy Company for the power component of the project, the NIA entered into a contract with National Power for the purchase of the energy output of the power plant. The energy output will be transmitted and marketed by National Power.

E-mail your interest or queries to IPPATeam@psalm.gov.ph.