Duterte himself view<\/a>s<\/a> the dam as a way to improve cooperation between the two countries, whose relationship has been strained by a long-running maritime territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In April 2019, Duterte, the first Philippine president to come from Mindanao, attended the signing of the US$800-million contract between China Energy Engineering Co Ltd and Pulangi Hydropower Corporation (PHC). It took place during the Second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Political risk analyst Anders Corr told China Dialogue that the Chinese government is \u201clooking to reward Duterte by building large projects in his region\u201d to improve relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dam will be 143 metres high with a span of 878 metres holding back a reservoir of 2,924 hectares that will displace more than 700 households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Philippines\u2019 Environmental Management Bureau granted PHC an environmental compliance certificate<\/a> in June 2020. Although consent is still needed from the Philippines\u2019 indigenous people\u2019s commission, construction seems certain to begin soon and is expected to take four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PHC has pledged to observe the Philippine government\u2019s environmental standards during construction and the expected 50-year life of the dam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, environmentalists and local activists believe building a single, large dam is the wrong approach and have questioned the procedures behind PHC\u2019s Environmental Impact Statement<\/a> (EIS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMega dam projects like the Pulangi hydropower project are disruptive of forest and river ecosystems and the communities dependent on them,\u201d Leon Dulce, national coordinator of the Kalikasan People\u2019s Network for the Environment, told China Dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stripping back natural forest vegetation will reduce the watershed\u2019s capacity to store water bringing the risk of flooding, and will harm biodiversity, according to Dr Angela Grace Toledo-Bruno, an environmental scientist at Central Mindanao University who is an expert on water management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toledo-Bruno, who is also a Philippine-registered environmental planner, believes the environmental impact study was done \u201cin a very quick manner\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe data on hydrology are critical for large-scale dams. It is very surprising that the activities on water quality, hydrology and ecology [were] done in two days\u2026 The data gathered are not enough to assess impacts, again especially for large-scale dams,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe project fails to calculate the amount of sediments that drain into the reservoir of the dam due to runoff,\u201d she said, adding that the EIS was unclear about the weather regime \u2013 for instance dry or wet season, or high or low flow \u2013 underpinning the forecasted sedimentation rate of eight million cubic metres per year. Toledo-Bruno cautioned that a two-day window for hydrological forecasting could never be enough to assess the impact of extreme rainfall on the soil\u2019s absorption capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She cautioned the reservoir could end up heavily sedimented, a common problem for dams and even small-scale irrigation facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PHC\u2019s EIS acknowledges the risks of terrestrial and aquatic habitat degradation, which could jeopardise local species, including some classed as threatened with extinction on the IUCN Red List<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They include two globally classified \u201cvulnerable\u201d terrestrial fauna \u2013 the Java sparrow and Philippine sailfin lizard. The Pulangi river basin is also home to the Philippine\u2019s \u201cnational tree\u201d, the \u201cvulnerable\u201d Narra (Pterocarpus indicus<\/em>), and six other threatened tree species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the project site is far from being a pristine forest environment, maintaining the forest ecosystem\u2019s overall health depends on its many country-endemic, non-threatened birds and fruit bats that pollinate plants and disperse seeds. The presence of these animals is necessary to help the area regenerate after four decades of illegal logging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Damming the Pulangi River will also block the spawning journeys of fish like eels and gobies that travel between freshwater and the sea, said Dr Juan Carlos Gonzalez, a wildlife biology professor from the University of the Philippines Los Ba\u00f1os.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gonzalez shares the view that the EIS was careless. He criticised it for failing to pay attention to local reptiles, amphibians and small mammals, arguing that locally endemic amphibians are \u201cimportant land and water bioindicators\u201d whose role should be understood and monitored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Upstream of the dam site there is already a classic example of a reservoir that has more sediments than water, according to Toledo-Bruno, who cited the 255 MW Pulangi IV hydroelectric power plant in Maramag town, Bukidnon province. Run by the Philippines\u2019 National Power Corporation, Pulangi IV was constructed in the 1980s despite strong local opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another hydrologist offers an opposing viewpoint. \u201cPulangi IV acts as a sediment trap for the SPHEPP, thereby reducing the siltation risk for the facility,\u201d points out Dr Jose Andres Ignacio, planning director and geomatics manager for the Environmental Science for Social Change, a Bukidnon-based non-profit group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his view, the SPHEPP dam could even act as a flood buffer if there is heavy rainfall upstream by absorbing the flood wave, though only if the reservoir is not already full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neither the Philippines\u2019 Environmental Management Bureau nor PHC responded when approached for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Environmental groups remain opposed to the dam, saying many studies have shown how mega dams have caused irreparable damage despite legally compliant environment protection plans such as PHC\u2019s EIS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is not a coincidence as the best natural sources of water are old growth watershed forests,\u201d said Dulce. \u201cAnd this is the crux of the matter: the scale of environmental destruction that large dam projects will always pose can never be compensated by the supposed economic gains they can provide,\u201d such as power supply stabilisation, local job creation, and siltation and flood control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Mindanao, the economic gains are questionable as the island is not short of electricity. The average gross reserve or excess in the Mindanao grid is around 1,100 MW to 1,200 MW, according to recent Philippines\u2019 Department of Energy data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the department, which issued a service contract to PHC\u2019s hydropower project in 2018, estimates Mindanao will need an additional 3,650 MW by 2021-2030 to meet power demand, based on an average annual growth rate of 7.6%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As of August 2020, the island had 4,531 MW total rated capacity; its dependable capacity ran between 2,800 MW to 3,000 MW \u2013 or well above the average demand of 1,700 MW to 1,800 MW. Back in 2010 to 2015, Mindanao experienced electricity shortfalls and frequent rotating brownouts. This changed after predominantly coal-fired power plants were added to the grid, the Mindanao Development Authority noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Officials argue that the new hydropower plant will bring a cleaner, greener energy mix to Mindanao.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mindanao\u2019s current energy mix is 70% fossil fuels, mostly coal, and 30% renewable energy, whereas a decade ago the island had a 60:40 ratio in favour of renewable energy, said Mindanao Development Authority investment promotions chief Romeo Montenegro, citing data from the Department of Energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe dominance of coal, while improving the overall capacity factor of Mindanao generation, needs to be tempered with more development of renewable energy sources to achieve a balanced energy mix,\u201d Montenegro told China Dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The entry of the 250 MW hydropower plant would increase the island\u2019s share of renewable energy capacity to 35%. He said SPHEPP will diversify the energy mix by deploying \u201cclean and renewable energy sources towards achieving a regime of reliable, cost-effective and sustainable power\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCheaper hydropower will also help attract investment and contribute to overall socioeconomic growth,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of huge dams, environmental activists are pushing for the development of micro and small hydro projects and community-based cooperatives. They argue these will have a minimal ecological footprint on river systems and are appropriate to the Philippines\u2019 largely rural population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They say solar, wind, ocean and geothermal are all becoming more cost effective and scalable, allowing them to cater to larger populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe only reason these sustainable alternatives are being ignored is because the national government and big business want to lock-in our energy economy with raw-material, capital-intensive infrastructure projects that give quick but unsustainable bursts of revenue and employment,\u201d said Dulce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Corr also warned of the risks in entering this hydropower deal, including the forfeiting of important national assets such as ports and railway lines as collateral in case of failure to pay the loans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs the loan agreements are reportedly secret, we can be almost certain that their terms \u2013 including interest rates, collateral and repayment schedules \u2013 are not advantageous to the Philippine taxpayers who will ultimately pay,\u201d he said. \u201cAdditionally, the loss of ancestral land\u2026 is an incalculable cost, as tribal spirituality and deceased ancestors are tied to the land.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mindanao dam project is too big, too risky and there are better renewable options, activists say<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3757,"featured_media":68675,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[757],"tags":[50040314,554,587],"hashtags":[],"country":[50040715],"class_list":["post-68672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-dams","tag-hydropower","tag-rivers","country-philippines"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"South](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/20201120-South-Pulangi-dam-map_English.svg\")
<\/div>Too big, too risky<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The scale of environmental destruction that large dam projects will always pose can never be compensated by the supposed economic gains they can provide.<\/blockquote>Leon Dulce, Kalikasan People\u2019s Network for the Environment<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Flood risk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Biodiversity at risk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Java](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Java-Sparrow-scaled.jpg\")
<\/div>Weak impact study<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"pulangi](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/20201119_Pulangi-IV-dam_satellite_2560px.jpg\")
<\/div>Enough power?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Construction](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Kamanga-coal-fired-power-station-scaled.jpg\")
<\/div>Alternative generation options<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/49380897422_6526210d0b_o_2560px.jpg\")
<\/div>