The Philippines holds around $3.9 trillion in hydro power potential, which if tapped, experts say would not only boost electricity supply, but also curb worsening floods and enhance farm productivity.
To unlock this vast potential, Gertrude Roque, president of the private sector backed Philhydro Association Inc., said the country would need an investment of roughly $5-6 million per megawatt.
Roque said that a combination of technologies such as run-of-river (ROR), dams, and pumped storage hydro (PSH) would be the ‘best’ approach for the Philippines.
“For dams, we store the water to prevent floods or to irrigate the farms,” Roque said, highlighting the function of dams besides electricity generation. Large scale hydro plants typically require the construction of dams that create reservoirs, allowing water to be stored and released in a controlled manner to generate electricity.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin has described hydropower as the “perfect partner” in the country’s transition to cleaner, sustainable energy.
Amid the country’s persistent flooding problems, the energy chief also affirmed that hydropower could help drive national resilience and flood control.
“Hydro facilities are critical infrastructure for disaster mitigation. Reservoirs and integrated water management actively control river flows, mitigate flash floods, and protect communities during severe weather events,” Garin said.
Hydropower currently accounts for around eight percent of the country’s energy mix.
Considering its benefits and the room for growth, the government and the private sector should be working harder together to increase the role and contribution of hydropower to both the energy mix and disaster mitigation. It is something we should seriously consider, as long as the environmental and long term benefits of any projects and developments that are undertaken are established well before any ground is broken.*
