Binga Dam is a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

Agno River The Agno River, or Pangasinan River, is a river in the island of Luzon, in the Philippines. Traversing the provinces of Baguio and Pangasinan, it is one of the largest river systems in the country, with a drainage area of . The river originate ...

connected to a

hydroelectric power plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

situated at Barrio Binga, Barangay Tinongdan in the municipality of

Itogon Itogon, officially the Municipality of Itogon, ( ilo, Ili ti Itogon; tl, Bayan ng Itogon), is a 1st class municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Benguet, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, ...

Benguet Benguet (), officially the Province of Benguet ('';'' ; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Benguet; ilo, Probinsia ti Benguet; ), is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the southern tip of the Cordillera Administrative Region in the islan ...

province of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. The dam was constructed in August 1956 and opened in May 1960 under the government-owned National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR), three years after its sister facility

Ambuklao Dam Ambuklao Dam is part of a hydroelectric facility in Baragay Ambuclao, Bokod, Benguet province in the Philippines. With a maximum water storage capacity of , the facility, which is located from Baguio city, can produce up to 105 megawatts of ele ...

. It is located southeast of

Baguio Baguio ( , ), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

and downstream of Ambuklao Dam within the

Upper Agno River Basin Resource Reserve The Upper Agno River Basin Resource Reserve is a list of protected areas of the Philippines, protected area located on the southeast flank of the Cordillera Central (Luzon), Cordillera Central in the Philippine province of Benguet along its border ...

. Improvement of the dam is ongoing for it had received heavy damage during the

1990 Luzon earthquake The 1990 Luzon earthquake struck the island of Luzon in the Philippines at 4:26 p.m. on July 16 ( PDT) or 3:26 p.m. ( PST) with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.7 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent'') and produced a 1 ...

, and its installed capacity of 100 MW is being upgraded to 140 MW. The Binga facility was constructed in 1956 for power generation and

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

. The dam and other non-power components are owned by the government through the

National Power Corporation The National Power Corporation ( fil, Pambansang Korporasyon sa Elektrisidad, also known as Napocor, NPC or National Power), is a Philippine government-owned and controlled corporation that is mandated to provide electricity to all rural areas of ...

Binga Hydro

On November 28, 2007, SNAP-Benguet won the public bid for Binga hydro and its neighboring power facility Ambuklao, which were sold as a package under the power sector privatization program of the Philippine government. It took over operations on July 10, 2008. Only the power components were privatized while the dams remain government-owned. SNAP-Benguet is a joint venture between SN Power of Norway and

Aboitiz Power Corporation Aboitiz Power Corporation also known as AboitizPower (AP), a subsidiary of Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV), is a holding company engaged in power distribution, generation and retail electricity services. Background Aboitiz Power Corporation was ...

. In 2010, Binga underwent refurbishment to increase its capacity from 100 MW to up to 125 MW. The project was completed in July 2013. In 2014, Binga underwent uprating work and increased its capacity to 140 MW. Binga hydro operates as a peaking plant and is also capable of providing ancillary services needed to stabilize the grid.

References

Dams in the Philippines Hydroelectric power plants in the Philippines Dams completed in 1960 Buildings and structures in Benguet {{Philippines-struct-stub