A consortium composed of six companies will build a 1.5-megawatt mini-hydro power plant in Camarines Sur due for completion by 2018.
Mega Renewable Power Development, Viscal Development Corp., Brightvale Ventures, Greentech Asia, Ormin Power and Repower Energy Development Corp. broke ground on Friday for the Rangas mini hydro power project in the municipality of Goa, a group statement said.
The CamSur-based project of the consortium is set to produce 10 gigawatt-hours of energy annually, allowing the franchise area of Camarines Sur IV Electric Cooperative IV to gain direct access to clean and sustainable energy.
The mini-hydropower plant will generate savings for Casureco IV as it will purchase electricity directly from the consortium at a reduced rate of P5.75 per kilowatt-hour compared with the government regulated feed-in tariff rate of P5.90 per kWh for hydro projects.
“As it is Repower’s mission to address the power outages around the country by supplying renewable energy, we have committed to reinvest part of our profit from the 1.5-MW Rangas mini hydropower plant back to said electric cooperative. With this, Casureco IV can improve their services to their consumers.” said Repower Energy chief executive Dexter Tiu.
Casureco IV is officially registered and categorized as a large electric cooperative by the National Electrification Administration. The cooperative provides service power to nine municipalities with 258 barangays in the Camarines Sur’s fourth district.
“We have worked on this project since 2009, the permitting process takes forever. It’s about time we commence construction and start generating power in the next 30 months,” Mega Renewable chairman Benson Lao said.
“This power generation project will benefit the consumers of Casureco IV. While its output may not be enough for the whole franchise area, it will provide for some reliability in cases when the national grid fails,” Lao said.
Lao, Jack Gaisano of Viscal Development Corp., Jolly Ting of Ormin Power, Keith Ng of Brightvale Ventures, James Chua of Greentech Asia and Dexter Tiu and Chris Tiu of Repower Energy attended the groundbreaking ceremonies.
Repower Energy, meanwhile, recently acquired Philippine Power and Development Co., owner of the country’s three oldest operating mini-hydropower plants, in a bid to expand the output of the stations.
The company is allocating around P300 million for the rehabilitation, which includes renewal of the structural and civil works of the Balugbog, Calibato and Palapakin hydro plants. It plans to upgrade the Laguna-based low-impact hydro plants, with the latest run-of-river systems technology.