STATE OWNED National Power Corporation (Napocor) in the Philippines has saved at least US$631,500 in fuel expenses with the early completion of Unit 1 of the Agus I hydroelectric power plant in Mindanao. The early completion of rehabilitation works on that unit of the power generation facility boosted Mindanao capacity by 40MW. Unit 1’s synchronization with the Mindanao grid brought Agus I’s total capacity to 80MW. The Mindanao grid currently has an available capacity of 1,261MW. The rehabilitation used equipment from Austrian supplier VA Tech Hydro.
The Agus I plant, the most upstream of the six plants which compose the Agus Hydropower Complex, is the first hydroelectric plant in Mindanao to use state-of-the-art technology in its operations, including control and protection.