Renewable energy company H&WB Asia Pacific (Pte Ltd.) Corp. teamed up with Sabella of France to develop and finance tidal power plant projects in Sorsogon and Leyte.
The two companies signed a memorandum of agreement for the development and financing of the country’s first ocean tidal power plant project in H&WB’s three concession areas at San Bernardino Strait between Matnog, Sorsogon and Capul and Dalupiri, Leyte.
Sabella chairman and president M. Jean-Francois Daviau and H&WB president and chief executive Antonio Ver signed the agreement. The event was witnessed by Embassy of France deputy chief of mission Laurent Le Godec.
“The project commences a 5-MW demonstration plant that can supply clean, reliable energy to Sorsogon Electric Cooperative I, and II, in Sorsogon; thus, commits to pursue Renewable Energy in the Philippines, and consistent with Climate Change initiatives of both countries,” the parties said in a statement.
Energy Department director Mario Marasigan said the project boded well for the country’s energy security efforts. Marasigan, however, said tidal ocean energy had no approved feed-in tariff yet and pre-development stage would take three years.
Sabella is an engineering and project management firm in the field of marine energies, and more specifically tidal turbines. The company installed the first French submarine tidal stream turbine in 2008.
H&WB, meanwhile, also plans to build a 700-megawatt coal fired power plant in Jose Panganiban, Camarines Norte, with construction expected to start in the fourth quarter 2017.
H&WB is engaged in the business of promoting, developing, financing, constructing, owning, operating and maintaining plants, systems and facilities that produce, convert, transform, process, and generate energy from fossil and non-fossil energy resources, including oil and gas exploration, and development for oil, petroleum and petrochemical products.
The company is also looking at liquefied natural gas for the Philippine market.