San Roque Dam (Philippines)
Encyclopedia
The San Roque Dam, operated under San Roque Multipurpose Project (SRMP) is a massive gated spillway of 200 meters height, 1.2 kilometer length embankment dam
Embankment dam
An embankment dam is a massive artificial water barrier. It is typically created by the emplacement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil, sand, clay and/or rock. It has a semi-permanent waterproof natural covering for its surface, and a dense, waterproof...

 on the Agno River
Agno River
Agno River is a river in the Philippine island of Luzon, in the province of Pangasinan. It is the fifth largest river system in the country with drainage area of 5,952 km². It originates in the Cordillera Mountains and empties into the South China Sea via the Cordillera Mountains...

 spanning the municipalities of San Manuel
San Manuel, Pangasinan
San Manuel is a 2nd class municipality in the eastern part province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 46,769 people in 8,644 households.-Barangays:San Manuel is politically subdivided into 14 barangays....

 and San Nicolas, Pangasinan
San Nicolas, Pangasinan
San Nicolas is a third class municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines.-History:According to local lore, the town was founded by Nicolas Patricio with his wife, Isidra Sangalang, and a handful of followers...

, nearly 200 km north of Metro Manila
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila , the National Capital Region , or simply Metro Manila, is the metropolitan region encompassing the City of Manila and its surrounding areas in the Philippines...

.

The dam impounds a reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...

 with a surface area of about 12.8 square kilometers extending North into the municipality of Itogon, Benguet
Itogon, Benguet
Itogon is a 1st class municipality in the province of Benguet, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 48,778 people in 8,588 households....

. A gated spillway protects the dam from overtopping. Each wet season, the run-off is stored for later release via water turbines to generate power and irrigate crops.

Agno River is the third largest river in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 with a total length of 221 kilometers and a drainage basin at the Project site of 1,225 square kilometers. The river originates in the Cordillera Mountains, initially flows from north to south, divides into several channels in the flat central plain of Luzon and meanders westerly through the provinces of Pangasinan and Tarlac before emptying into the Lingayen Gulf
Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...

.

San Roque Power Corporation (SRPC) financed and constructed the SRMP under a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the National Power Corporation (NPC) on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis. SRPC substantially completed the SRMP at midnight, February 14, 2003, at which time its peaking power, irrigation, flood control and enhanced water quality benefits became available to the surrounding regions, which include the Northwest Luzon Economic Growth Quadrangle. In reality, all but its power benefits have been available since mid-2002 when the dam and spillway were completed.

Ownership of the dam and spillway was transferred to NPC upon construction completion, as it contributed funds for the non-power components on behalf of several agencies. SRPC will own and operate the power generating facilities for 25 years, after which their ownership transfers to NPC.

Power

The SRMP has an installed rated capacity of 345 megawatts (MW). It operates primarily as a peaking plant during periods each day when the electrical output of base and inter-mediate load power plants cannot fulfill consumer demand. Capacity of 85 MW, which is the basis for the capacity payments under the PPA. The balance is surplus power that reduces dependence on imported fuel oil and also lowers the variable operating expenses of other power plants.

The SRMP offers substantial power benefits in addition to the peaking capacity and energy considered in the economic analysis conducted by NPC and the National Economic Development Authority. Most of these benefits are unique to large hydroelectric facilities.

Irrigation

The SRMP can provide year-round irrigation benefits for 708 square kilometres of farmland downstream of the dam with a partially diversified crop during the dry season, mostly in Pangasinan, but including parts of Nueva Ecija and Tarlac.

Flood control

The SRMP produces a marked attenuation (reduction) in the perennial flooding of the Agno River affecting at least 16 Pangasinan and Tarlac towns. It is complemented by the 3-phase, PhP9.7 billion Agno Flood Control Project managed by DPWH. Phase I is completed; Phase II is in progress; and Phase III will begin in 2004 and be completed in 2009.

Water quality

The SRMP improves the quality of the water in the Lower Agno River via a proactive integrated watershed management plan (IWMP) and by trapping sediments caused by erosion and by such other sources as small-scale mining.
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