Oldest Power Plants in the Philippines

There is this very interesting blog by www.jcmiras.net that tells about the first and oldest power plants in the Philippines. All of them are hydroelectric power plants and most are still operational today.

Among the four power plants that are enumerated below, there are still conflicting issues regarding which one is really the oldest. As published in the Heritage Conservation Society website, it appears that the Villa Escudero Hydroelectric plant is the oldest among the four as it was stated in the web article that it was built in 1937. However, there is one commentator in the website that insists that the first hydroelectric power plant is the Botocan Hydroelectric Power Plant in Majayjay, Laguna, and the second is the Caliraya Hydroelectric Powere Plant also in Laguna.

So without much further ado, below are the list of some of the oldest power plants in the country.

23.5-MW Caliraya Hydroelectric Power Plant

Located in Lumban, Laguna, the Caliraya power plant was built by the National Power Corporation (NPC) in 1942. It is included in the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan Power Plant Complex and was commissioned from 1942-1950. The complex is now owned by an Independent Power Producer (IPP) – the consortium of Sumitomo Corporation and Electric Power Development Co. Ltd. (J-Power). The current owner rehabilitated the three plants and re-commissioned it on 2002-2003. Based from some former NPC engineers, the Caliraya plant is the first power plant in the country.

23-MW Botocan Hydroelectric Power Plant

Located in Majayjay, Laguna, the Botocan power plant was built by NPC and commissioned from 1946-1948. It is also one of the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan power plants.

1×560 kVA Palakpakin Hydroelectric Power Plant; 1×150 kVA + 2×200 kVA Balugbog Hydroelectric Power Plant; and 1×75 kVA Unit Kalibato Hydroelectric Power Plant

These are all mini-hydro plants that are sparsely located in Laguna. They were owned by Philippine Power Development Corporation (Philpodeco), and were commissioned from 1933-1938. They are still operational nowadays, although they are in bad condition.

Villa Escudero Hydroelectric Plant

The power plant is located in San Pablo in the province of Quezon. It is said that it was built in 1937 to generate power for the Escudero coconut plantation in Tayabas, Quezon. According to the Heritage Conservation Society, this power plant is no longer operational. However, according to a certain Daniel Escudero, the power plant is still operational and that it has, in fact, added two more hydro units which are running daily, one is a 75-kW unit and the other has a 37.5-kW capacity.

*References:

http://www.jcmiras.net

http://www.heritageconservation.wordpress.com