The Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation Inc. inaugurated yesterday its first Micro-Hydro Power project in Sitio Mambucano, Brgy. Cabatangan, Talisay City.

With a budget of P2.2 million, provided by the United Nations Development Program, AIDFI repaired an old canal leading to the water source in the mountains, cemented a 2.2-kilometer canal extension, constructed a powerhouse and battery charging facility, put up electric poles with big wires that connect the generator to the chargers.

Auke Idzenga of AIDFI said they were motivated by the goal to generate hydro power using a locally fabricated Pelton turbine and to provide employment for people in the host community. The group found an ideal site for its first hydro project in Sitio Mambucano where AIDFI have contacts with the farmers' cooperative CAFARMULCO.

Idzenga said the cooperative is composed of agrarian reform beneficiaries who were among the first to avail of an irrigation canal support service.

But even with the irrigation system, he said they observed that most of ARBs have stopped farming and become more involved in taking care of fighting cocks.

A coordinated effort to get them back to farming, Idzenga said, is to provide them with an economic project which they can discuss during their meetings.

He added that they opted for battery charging system since the 10-kiloWatt output generated from the hydro power will not be enough for direct connections to the household.

Idzenga added that battery charging system is more efficient compared to a hundred of connections due to absence of peak loads.

"Energy captured in batteries can spread over the day and leaves more power available for other purposes," he explained.

He added that collection of fees, for the sustainability of the project, is easier since everybody pays for the battery charging immediately.

Idzenga also explained that the present system for each household is 12 volts but they have an option to buy an inverter and transform the voltage into 220, making it possible to use all kinds of appliances. He appealed to government officials to help the beneficiaries by providing them with inverters or chargers with higher capacity.

While AIDFI has not earned anything monetary, it gained tremendous experience in manufacturing and actual implementation of such a hydro power system, Idzenga said.

He also expressed hopes that the government will embrace organizations such as AIDFI that try to develop local things and improve the capability of Filipinos.*NAB

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