The Agus-Pulangi Hydro Plant Complex (APHPC) stands as Mindanao’s most vital public asset—a cornerstone of the region’s energy security, economic stability, and future prosperity. Its continued public stewardship is essential and must not be sacrificed to private monopolies.
Recent attempts by powerful private interests to acquire the APHPC raise urgent concerns about Mindanao’s energy security and long-term sustainability. Privatizing this asset would marginalize local communities, erode transparency, and weaken vital public oversight.
“Mindanao’s most important power asset must remain under Mindanaoan stewardship,” stressed BenCyrus G. Ellorin, project director of Consumers for Renewable Energy Action in Mindanao (CREAM). He highlighted the Energy Storage Project (ESP) proposed by Greenergy Development Corporation—a Mindanao-based company—as a locally anchored, sustainable alternative for rehabilitating, operating, and maintaining the APHPC.
According to Ellorin, the ESP proposal enjoys broad support from Mindanaoan power consumers, who have consistently opposed privatization for decades. First unveiled at the Mindanao Power Summit in Iligan City (May 2024), the proposal gained widespread support from household consumers, businesses, and just energy transition advocates. The ESP was supported by the Mindanao Business Conference in 2024, held at General Santos City. The 3rd Mindanao Clean Energy Forum—a diverse assembly of energy stakeholders—formally endorsed the project in November last year at Butuan City.
In January last year, Greenergy presented the proposal, which came with a petition signed by over 20,000 Mindanaoan energy stakeholders, to the national government, and it was evaluated by the Dept of Energy.
News reports cite Dennis dela Cerna, president of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM)—which manages all government-owned power plants, including the 1,000 MW APHC—confirming receipt of three proposals for the long-overdue rehabilitation of the aging complex.
‘EXPENSIVE’ REHAB PROPOSALS AND THE PERILS OF CORRUPTION
CREAM Project analysis shows the ESP proposal to be significantly more cost-effective than those submitted by major power conglomerates.
“They would recoup their investments by raising power rates, crippling further ordinary power consumers, micro, small, and medium enterprises, and industries that are already burdened by the country’s power rates, which are the most expensive in Southeast Asia. Why such excessive costs? We hope corruption does not influence the government’s decision regarding these ‘expensive’ rehabilitation bids.”
Developed by Mindanao-based stakeholders, the ESP prioritizes affordability and solutions tailored to the island’s needs, rather than shareholder profits. In contrast, corporate takeover threatens higher rates and increased risks of regulatory capture and corruption.
The APHPC is composed of six cascading hydroelectric plants powered by Lake Lanao, a 240-square-kilometer lake in Lanao del Sur: Agus 1 is in Marawi City; Agus 2 is in Saguiaran, Lanao del Sur; Agus 4 is in Baloi, Lanao del Norte; Agus 5, 6, and 7 are in Iligan City. The oldest of these power plants, the Agus 6 (Maria Cristina Falls) hydroelectric power plant, was commissioned in the early 1950s. The Pulangi IV hydroelectric plant, meanwhile, is in Maramag, Bukidnon.
MASS-BASED OWNERSHIP
The APHC was designed by the government to provide affordable, reliable energy to fuel inclusive growth in Mindanao. As a public asset, it delivers the most competitive generation rates in the Philippines—approximately P3 per kilowatt-hour—benefiting both industry and consumers. Privatization would undermine this mandate, inevitably driving up prices and reducing public accountability.
“If Agus-Pulangi is privatized, power rates across Mindanao will inevitably increase to make coal and diesel owned by the same energy monopoly competitive. Continued dependence on fossil energy sources would erode competitiveness, defeat carbon-emission reduction targets, and hinder inclusive growth,” Ellorin warned.
The ESP proposal, however, seeks to rehabilitate, operate, and maintain the APHPC under a PSALM concession while retaining ownership in government hands. It also incorporates a vital safeguard: the Mass-Based Ownership model, guaranteeing that at least 30% of the implementing entity is owned by Mindanao power consumers.
Part of the country’s contribution to global carbon-emission reduction targets set at the Paris climate summit in 2015 is to reduce fossil fuel’s share of the energy mix by 35% in 2030 and by 50% in 2040.
NATURE’S POWER BANK
Engineer Cerael C. Donggay, president of Greenergy, affirms that their modernization strategy is technologically advanced, holistic, and cost-efficient. The approach seeks to boost operational efficiency and ensure affordable power without burdening consumers.
“Our proposal leverages three innovative technologies: 1) Hybrid Economic Dispatch (HED); 2) Circular Economy for Hydro Plants (CEHD); and 3) Solar Ocean Pumped Storage (SOPS),” Donggay explained at an investment forum with cooperatives recently.
According to the ESP manual, HED—a patented technology developed by Donggay, an electrical engineer with over 50 years of experience and former senior vice president of the National Power Corporation—will allow Lake Lanao to function as a giant energy storage system or nature’s power bank.
HED marks a paradigm shift from simply extracting water for downstream turbines. Under this system, the Agus plants will synchronize with distributed solar power centers. During peak solar periods, the lake stores water for sustained power generation.
CEHD, meanwhile, would ‘recycle’ water by using solar-powered pumps to return it upstream, enabling repeated use in the turbines. Typically, water from Lake Lanao ultimately flows to the sea. With CEHD, water drained from Agus 7 in Iligan City is pumped back to the Agus 4 reservoir in Balo-i, Lanao del Norte. And from there, pumped back to Lake Lanao. This closed-loop process maintains sufficient hydraulic power for successive plants. The plant capacity factor of the APHPC would increase by 100MW without constructing a new hydropower plant.
SOPS, another innovation, addresses the power needs of small island grids and geographically isolated communities by harnessing re-engineered valleys near coastal areas, constructing elevated water reservoirs to store and release energy as needed.
Solar-powered pumps deliver seawater into these reservoirs, which are lined with impermeable material to prevent environmental contamination. Once filled, the stored water is released to drive turbines below, generating electricity for local communities.
SOPS will help the national government conserve foreign currency by cutting diesel imports, support the main grid of larger islands, and support the greening of the Small Power Utility Group (SPUG) operations in these small island grids.
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