December 21, 2015 9:53 pm by RITCHIE A. HORARIO, REPORTER
POWER distribution
giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has partnered with Repower Energy
Development Corp. (REDC) for the development of mini hydropower plants across
the country.
The initiative marks
Meralco’s first foray into mini-hydropower development, a renewable energy
source.
The two companies
signed a joint venture agreement to build and develop mini-hydropower plants
using run-of-river resources for renewable and efficient energy production with
minimal environmental impact.
REDC has over 100
megawatts (MW) of mini-hydropower projects clustered in Quezon, Camarines Sur,
Bukidnon, and other provinces under development, representing a total
investment of $400 million.
REDC early this month
broke ground on its Rangas mini hydropower project located in CamSur.
Its next
ground-breaking is for the Upper Labayat project located in Quezon which is
scheduled for the first quarter of 2016.
REDC, thru its
subsidiary Philpodeco, has three operating mini hydropower plants all located
in Laguna. The operating plants sell the power output to Meralco.
Dexter Tiu, REDC
chief executive, welcomed the company’s partnership with Meralco.
“Our wide experience in working with sustainable energy sources has allowed us to maximize its potential through our long-term approach of using best of breed international technologies combined with local excellence in deployments,” said Tiu.
“Our wide experience in working with sustainable energy sources has allowed us to maximize its potential through our long-term approach of using best of breed international technologies combined with local excellence in deployments,” said Tiu.
The REDC-Meralco
joint venture for mini-hydropower projects will avail of the feed-in-tariff
(FIT) scheme mandated by the Renewable Energy Act of 2008. The FIT rate is
guaranteed by the government for 20 years at P5.9 per kilowatt hour.
“The joint venture
will lead to a series of project ground-breaking of mini hydropower plants
starting from the first half of 2016 in select regions, following REDC’s vision
for its clustered development strategy,” the company said.
Meanwhile, Meralco is
creating a separate unit for its renewable energy (RE) foray.
Meralco president Oscar Reyes said the creation of the RE unit called MSpectrum is already in the development stage.
Meralco president Oscar Reyes said the creation of the RE unit called MSpectrum is already in the development stage.
“We’re putting up a
separate unit. We want to be also in renewables,” Reyes said.
Reyes said the new unit will also explore solar power projects.
Reyes said the new unit will also explore solar power projects.
“We can look at solar
and wind, but its focus will initially be solar. Wind will remain with Meralco
PowerGen because it’s big-scale,” he said.
Reyes said they are
targeting to install at least 100 megawatts (MW) of solar power within three
years.
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