Mindanao I & II Geothermal Plants: Harnessing Mount Apo's Energy Resource

Mindanao I & II Geothermal Plant Harnessing Mount Apo's Energy Resource

The presence of hot springs, geysers, and other thermal phenomena in Mount Apo, Philippines, indicates that it has a geothermal energy reserves that can be recovered and exploited.

Harnessing this resource is the Mindanao I & II Geothermal Power Plants, standing side by side, located at the foot of Mount Apo in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato, with its production field occupying 112 hectares out of the 701 hectares that the Philippine government reserved for geothermal development back in 1991.

The power facilities are being operated jointly by the Energy Development Corporation of the Philippines, and the Marubeni Corporation of Japan which is one of the two groups that financed, designed, and constructed the project under a build-operate and transfer (BOT) agreement.

Photo: courtesy of Josefino C. Adajar, Philippines Department of Energy

Queen of Philippine Flowers: Waling-Waling

Waling-Waling
(Vanda Sanderiana Reichen-bach)

Considered by many as the Philippines' best orchid variety, Waling-waling is an epiphytic orchid named in honor of the renowned botanist Henry Sanders. It was discovered by German Taxonomist Heinrich Gustav Reicheinback which caused a horticultural sensation all over Europe in 1882. The orchid is endemic to Mindanao where it is perched on the top of tall trees.

Frequent collection of the wild variety in the Mindanao rain forests almost led to the extinction of the orchid. This was partly arrested when Ms. Charita Puentespina, owner of the Puentespina Orchid Farm in Davao City succesfully pionered the mass production of the orchid through tissue culture in 1985.

Mount Apo, Master of the Mountains

Mount Apo

The name means "Grandfather of the Mountains." It is situated in Mindanao, the highest mountain in the Philippines, overlooking Davao City a few kilometers on the northeast. It is the second highest in Southeast Asia. It is known to the natives as the kingdom of the mountain god Apo Sandawa.

A vast area of 72, 796 hectares of mossy tropical forest, flowing rivers & streams, waterfalls, exotic flora & fauna, it is home to the endangered Philippine eagle. It is one of the most climbing destinations in the Philippines.

Mount Apo, classified as a stratovolcano, a large one, is a source of geothermal energy, one of the resources that supply the power requirement of the island of Mindanao.

Photo source: wikipedia.org

Purple Lily Flower

Purple Lily Flower