SN Aboitiz Power Inc. (SNAP), the buyer of the 175-megawatt Ambuklao and Binga hydropower plants, inked with government the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Manuals in running the facilities.

Signatories to the manuals are SNAP chief executive officer Emmanuel V. Rubio, National Power Corporation (NPC) president Froilan A. Tampinco and Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) vice president Helena C. Tolentino. The sealed O & M Manuals purportedly signaled SNAP-Benguet’s operation and control of the non-power facilities of the assets for the next 25 years.

It was clarified though that “ownership of said facilities will remain with PSALM/NPC as required under the law.”

The O&M Manuals, as explained, provide for the terms and conditions for the “administration, operation, rehabilitation, preservation and maintenance of the Ambuklao and Binga dams;” the reservoir that supplies the requirement of the facility’s power-generating components.

SNAP, in a statement, noted that while the country does not have specific dam safety legislation or guidelines yet, the Standard Industry Practice referenced with the New Zealand Society on Large Dams (NZSOLD) Dam Safety Guidelines (2000), along with the United States Bureau of Reclamation Safety Evaluation of Existing Dams (USBR SEED) Manual have to be adopted for the time being. (MMV)