Ambuklao Dam is part of a hydroelectric facility in Baragay Ambuclao, Bokod, Benguet province in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. With a maximum water storage capacity of , the facility, which is located from

Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

, can produce up to 105

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s of electricity for the

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

grid. The main source of water is the Agno River, which originates from Mount Data. The dam is located in a conservation area known as the Upper Agno River Basin Resource Reserve. The dam and other non-power components are owned by the government through the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR). The name of the dam is also used as a

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for National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) power lines and their associated poles and towers.

Ambuklao Hydro

The Ambuklao Hydroelectric Power Plant is one of the oldest power plants in the country and was among the first large hydroelectric power plants constructed in the Philippines. The development of the Agno River for hydroelectric power generation, flood control, and irrigation had been conceived as early as the late 1940s. Preliminary investigations for development at the Ambuklao and Binga Dam sites were undertaken as early as January 1948. Running along the upper portion of the Agno River, Ambuklao Hydro was constructed for power generation and flood control. Having gone online in 1956, the dam was affected by the 1990 Luzon earthquake, which caused siltation and technical problems that affected the plant's operations. Ambuklao was eventually decommissioned in 1999. In the meantime, fisheries began operating on the reservoir in 1994 despite its surface area being reduced from 700 hectares to 400 hectares due to siltation. On November 28, 2007, SN Aboitiz Power-Benguet, Inc. (SNAP-Benguet) won the public bid for Ambuklao and its neighboring power facility Binga, which were sold as a package under the power sector privatization program of the Philippine government. SNAP-Benguet is a joint venture between SN Power of Norway and Aboitiz Power Corporation. SNAP-Benguet began a massive rehabilitation project that restored Ambuklao to operating status and increased its capacity from 75 MW to 105 MW. The project required the construction of a new intake, headrace and penstock, elevation of tailrace tunnel outlet, de-silting of tailrace tunnel and replacement of electro-mechanical components. In June 2011, Unit 3 became the first turbine unit to go on-line, followed by the other two units. Ambuklao was formally inaugurated in October 2011. Ambuklao is designed as a peaking plant and is capable of delivering energy and providing ancillary services needed to stabilize the grid.

References

{{Authority control Dams completed in 1956 Buildings and structures in Benguet Dams in the Philippines