The Ilaguen 1 project is a small hydropower scheme currently being developed by private enterprise in the Northern Luzon area of the Philippines. The island of Luzon is the largest island in the country, and the site is about 300 km northeast of the Philippines’ capital, Manila. The project is the first of a series of four run-of-river power stations as part of a cascade power development on the Pinacanuan de Ilaguen river. The project is the lowest site on the river being considered as part of this development and is a renewable energy small hydropower scheme involving utilization of run-of-river high flow and a relatively low head to generate power for the local grid. The paper deals with the civil design and initial construction related issues and aspects of the privately developed small hydropower project as well as the innovative approaches being adopted for the project for it to be competitive in the generation environment currently being developed in the Philippines.

Small dams play an important role in New Zealand for irrigation, town water supply, hydropower, industrial use, flood mitigation, and intrinsic value as lakes in parks. This paper shares some of the particular issues that have been highlighted by the authors’ experience with smaller embankment and concrete dams, and infers lessons for design, construction and operation. The importance of regular monitoring and maintenance is emphasized, including the control of seepage and the assurance of adequate spillway capacity. Reference is made to the new Dam Safety Guidelines issued in May 2015 by the New Zealand Society on Large Dams (NZSOLD) which are essentially the industry standard and which are directly relevant to dams down to a few metres in height but with the potential for downstream damage.

Catuiran Hydro-electric Power Project is a renewable energy small hydro power development based on run-of-river operation. Although in the mini hydro power category, the project provides excellent specific examples of many technical challenges faced by hydropower developments in developing countries with extreme meteorology and hydrology, seismically active environments and complex geological conditions. Innovation and design flexibility is necessary to address these technical, as well as social and economic challenges and are part of the landscape for such projects in the Philippines in an ever developing and changing environment.