First Gen eyeing 50 hydro projects

Manila Times.net
Published : Tuesday, March 06, 2012 00:00 Written by : Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo, Reporter


FIRST Gen Corp. is keen on bidding for the run-of-river hydropower projects government plans to bid out to investors.


Francis Giles Puno, First Gen president, said on Monday that the company “would be interested” in the roughly 50 hydro projects the Department of Energy will line up in the auction block within the year.


First Gen is the power generation arm of the Lopez Group, which earlier shunned investments in conventional power plants such as coal generating facilities in favor of renewable energy (RE) projects.


Besides government’s run-of-river hydro projects, which would not require the construction of large dams, the company plans to put up two similar facilities in Agusan del Norte and Bukidnon provinces.


These projects are the 30-megawatt Puyo and 23-MW Bubunawan plants. The First Gen official, however, said that the company’s appetite for these projects hinges on the approval of the feed-in tariff (FIT) for RE now pending before the Energy Regulatory Commission.


“We’re hopeful that this year, the FIT will be finally passed and for us, that will trigger us being able to invest, particularly in the run-of-river projects,” Puno said.


Energy Undersecretary Jay Layug said earlier that the government will bid out around 50 mini hydro projects across the country to help level the playing field in the industry.


Prior to the proposed bidding, investors need not pass through the government auction block for similar projects that are deemed “frontier” or having limited technical data.