WORLD - IN1'"ERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

1818 H STREET. N.W., WASHINGTON 251 D. C. TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 Public Disclosure Authorized

Bank Press Release No. 62/40 SUBJECT: $3. 7 million power loan November 7, 1962 in

The World Bank today made a loan equivalent to $3. 7 million to the National

Power Corporation of the Philippines. The loan will assist in financing a 50,000-

Public Disclosure Authorized kilovra.tt expansion of the Corporation's hydroelectric power

plant, which will double the capacity of the plant, increasing power supplies on

the island of •

Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association, San Francisco, and • The Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, are participating in the loan, without the World Bank's guarantee, for a total amount of $390,000, representing the first

five maturities which fall due between June 1965 and June 1967. Public Disclosure Authorized The National Power Corporation is an autonomous government corporation which sells power to industry and to private power distributors throughout the Philip­

pines. The Corporation's Maria Cristina Falls plant supplies power in northern

Mindanao through the Agua grid. The market is largely industrial with five enter­ prises using nearly aoi of the plant's present capacity of 50,000 kilowatts. The demand in Mindanao is e:>epected to increase to 93,000 kilowatts by 1966 largely be­ cause of an expa.naion of existing plants and the establishment of new ones. The

Public Disclosure Authorized two largest new customers will be the Marindu.kue D."'on Mining company and an inte­

grated steel mill. Ma.rindukue plans to build an ammonium sulphate fertilizer plant,

and later a copper-zinc reduction and fabricating plant. When the steel mill is in • full operation it will require more power than will be available from the expanded - 2 - Maria Cristina station. The National Power Corporation plans to build a new plant

upstre~m from Maria Cristina to meet this increased demand.

The Maria Cristina Falla power station is the first of a series of power

plants which will b~ developed to use the excellent hydroelectric power potential

of the . This river flows from Lake La.nae at an elevation of about

2,300 feet above sea level to Bay on the north-central coast of Mindanao.

Its course provides a number of sites suitable for the ultimate development of 750,000 ki.lowa.tts of electric generating capacity.

The layout of the Maria Cristina plant is simple and economical. A net head of 520 feet is gained by diverting water from above the Maria Cristina Falls to the plant at the foot of the falls. The project being undertaken with Bank assistance includes the installation of a second 50, 000'-kilowatt unit, the construction of a short transmission line and minor regulatory works along the Agus River. The total estimated cost of the Maria Cristina expansion is equivalent to • $7.l million. The Bank loan will cover the foreign exchange requirements. Im­ ported equipment will be purchased on the basis of international competition. The expansion is scheduled for completion by the end of 1964.

This is the third Bank loan to the National Power Corporation bringing the total lending to the Corporation to $56.2 million. The earlier loans were for the Binga hydroelectric project in northern Luzon and the .Angat power project near Manila.

The Bank loan is :for a term of 18 years and bears interest at the rate of

5.. 1/2% per annum including the l