Mother of Industry

Hydroelectric Power Plant

 

Maria Cristina Falls, is tagged as the MOTHER OF INDUSTRY and FOUNTAINHEAD OF PROGRESS,  due to the fact that  it was utilized as a hydroelectric power plant in 1952. Numerous industries were erected in the city which  contributed a lot to Iligan’s progress. These pictures are  part of the Agus River Power Development and named as the AGUS 6.

 

Its construction started on January 16, 1979 and such civil work was awarded and constructed by CDCP, including the construction of the main powerhouse, dam structures, and diversion tunnel. The National Power Corporation personnel under the supervision of the Italian and Japanese consultants were tasked to perform the Electro -mechanical erection. The main equipment was supplied by the Gruppo Industrie Elettro (GIE), Italy and the various control equipment by Fuji Electric Co. Ltd., Japan. The construction cost of the plant was P624.22 million.

 

           90% of the water from Maria Cristina Falls is used for producing electricity to supply about 80% of the entire Mindanao. Of the seven (7) hydro sites constructed along the Agus River, the Agus VI was the first to be developed and completed because the site was the most feasible, the simpliest and the most economical to construct and the nearest to the expected power consumers. Construction of the project was authorized by the then, Pres. Elpidio Quirino in 1950.

 

           The Agus VI H. E. Plant, originally known as the Maria Cristina Falls Hydroelectic Power plant, named after the famous scenic waterfalls just 100 metres in the background. The falls cascades around 320 feet down a sheer clift, and is only 8.5 kilometres southwest of the city proper.