First ocean tidal power plant rising in Samar

By Danessa Rivera (The Philippine Star) | Updated November 18, 2017 - 12:00am

http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/11/18/1759926/first-ocean-tidal-power-plant-rising-samar

MANILA, Philippines — Local firm H&WB Asia Pacific (Pte Ltd.) Corp. and French energy developer Sabella SAS are close to start constructing Southeast Asia’s first ocean power plant, which will power up off-grid areas in Northern Samar.

The partners will implement the $25-million, 1.5-megawatt (MW) ocean tidal power plant project which will harness the marine current resource in San Bernardino Strait separating the islands of Luzon and Samar.

This after the Department of Energy-Renewable Energy Management Bureau (DOE-REMB) has completed the public consultation with San Bernardino Ocean Power Corp. (SBOPC) and PNOC Renewables Corp. (PNOC RC).

SBOPC holds the concession to provide electricity to nearby municipalities of San Antonio and the major towns of the provinces of Sorsogon and Northern Samar.

This makes the San Bernardino Strait as the launch pad for the Philippines and the ASEAN region’s first commercial ocean power plant.

Sabella is deploying a resilient marine turbine that will use tidal in-stream energy conversion (TISEC) technology, an ocean power technology mostly adaptable in Philippine waters.

“TISEC could be the technology of choice in ocean renewable energy development in the Philippines,” H&WB president Antonio Ver said.

The capacity of the tidal farm is scalable to three MW with a one-MW storage to electrify Calintaan and Matnog in Sorsogon that have a demand of up to 20 MW for the next three years.

Northern Samar Electric Cooperative (Norsamelco) will be the off-taker for the initial capacity of the power plant.

San Bernardino Strait’s tidal currents have a 500-MW potential. Tidal currents are predictable and produce massive kinetic energy to run marine turbines.

Last January, H&WB and Sabella have signed a memorandum of understanding with PNOC RC on the former’s three service contracts from the DOE.

Awarded in October 2013, the service contracts cover three concession areas namely: Area 1 – San Bernardino Strait between Bicol Peninsula and Samar Leyte Corridor (2,025 hectares); Area 2 – San Bernardino Strait between Bicol Peninsula and Samar Leyte Corridor (2,025 hectares); Area 3 – San Bernardino Strait between Bicol Peninsula and Samar Leyte Corridor (1,863 hectares).