Business Mirror
Published on Sunday, 14 July 2013 18:11 Written by Paul Anthony A. Isla
RENEWABLE-energy developer Sunwest Water and Electric Co. (Suweco) targets to start operations of the second unit of the Villasiga hydropower plant (Villasiga-2) in 2017.
Jose Silvestre M. Natividad, Suweco president, told reporters that the company expects the construction for the second unit of the Villasiga facility to begin either late this year or early next year.
Natividad said the development is estimated to entail almost P2 billion in investments.
“As of now, we plan to tap the same equipment, engineers and personnel who are now working for the first unit or the 8-megawatt (MW) Villasiga-1 run-of-river hydropower plant since it is near the second unit,” he said in an interview.
Natividad said Villasiga-1 will generate electricity through the water from the Paliuan River, which cascades to the second unit. He added that the 1-kilometer tunneling works for both the Villasiga hydropower systems are ongoing.
“As of now, there are ongoing activities for both power systems. But full construction for the second unit will begin [soon],” he said.
Natividad said they have yet to finalize where to sell the output of the second unit, and that they hope the Department of Energy (DOE) allows them to price the output of the Villasiga-2 based on the feed-in tariff (FIT) rates.
Natividad said they are also hope to begin construction of the 6-MW Peñablanca power project in Cagayan Valley by next year to have it operational also by 2017. He added that the project is estimated to have a project cost of P1.1 billion.
Natividad said they are currently working on the access roads for the power project situated in Cagayan Valley.
On Friday Suweco signed a 20-year power supply agreement with Antique Electric Cooperative Inc. (Anteco) for the supply of power for the province of Antique.
Under the signed power supply agreement, Suweco-2 said it will supply all the generated power of the Villasiga-1 and Guiamon-San Ramon hydropower plants in the municipalities of Bugasong and Laua-an, respectively.
Once the hydropower plants are operation it is expected to address the growing demand for electricity in the franchise area of Anteco.
Ludovico Lim, Anteco general manager, said the agreement with Suweco addresses the need for adequate, reliable and cleaner supply of power for distribution to their consumers in their service areas at a reasonable electricity rates in the long term.
“The Antiqueños look forward to the solution on their perennial frequent power interruptions due to power shortage” Vicente Painaga Jr., Anteco president, said.
Suweco said the 8-MW Villasiga hydropower project would be the first in Panay Island, which is a run-of-river renewable-energy type of power development that will optimize the potential use of the main Paliuan River to generate power.
Suweco said the project has a potential annual energy generation of 31,479,070 kilowatt-hours. The Villasiga project is about 88.4-percent completed and is expected to generate power this additional 31.4 gigawatt-hours by December.
Suweco’s first foray into renewable-energy development is through the successful implementation and operation of its two mini-hydropower projects in Catanduanes—Solong (with 2.1-MW output) and Hitoma 1 (1.5 MW), which were funded by the Philippine National Bank.
Suweco has currently a project portfolio of 59 projects at different stages of development. These 59 projects are expected to generate a total capacity of around 280-MW in the next 10 years.
At present, Suweco is considered as the leading purely-renewable-energy player in the Industry with several small-capacity players dotting the renewable-energy industry landscape.
Suweco is part of the Sunwest Group of Companies, a brainchild of Legazpi-based entrepreneur and businessman Elizaldy S. Co, who provides strategic focus in his capacity as the group’s chairman and chief executive officer. source
No comments:
Post a Comment