(The Philippine Star) | Updated May 19, 2017 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines -
The tandem of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and Repower Energy Development
Corp. has started constructing a three-megawatt (MW) hydropower plant in
Lalawinan, Quezon.
Pure Meridian
Hydropower Corp. (PMHC), the joint venture firm, will spend P700 million to
build the project, which will generate over 200 jobs during construction
– mostly hired from the local community.
Once completed, total
annual power generation will be over 16 gigawatt hours from this renewable
energy source.
The company will avail
of the run-of-river hydropower feed-in tariff (FIT) rate of P5.90 per kilowatt-hour
for the project.
The Lalawinan
hydropower facility is the second project under the Meralco-Repower
partnership, PMHC chairman Alfredo Panlilio said.
Last December, the
Pulanai mini-hydropower project in Bukidnon had its groundbreaking, attended by
President Duterte and Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.
“We reiterate our
earlier pronouncement that our investments in the various run-of-river
mini-hydro projects are a manifestation of our unwavering commitment to support
the development of the renewable energy sector. It is our hope that these
various initiatives will contribute in providing a stable, clean and reliable
energy source,” Panlilio said.
The project also keeps
the group focused on putting forward knowledge on run-of-river technology as
the best renewable energy resource due to its near baseload nature, PMHC and
Pure Energy Holdings Corp. chief executive officer Dexter Tiu said.
“Our goal is to provide
sustainable alternatives to balance the country’s over dependence on fossil
fuels, while preserving our natural watersheds,” he said.
Pure Energy, Repower’s
parent firm, recently partnered with World Wide Fund to identify key areas for
potential run of river hydropower development as well as launch a campaign to
promote awareness and preservation of the watersheds.
“We are committed to
help save our last remaining Sierra Madre rainforest and wildlife habitat here
in Quezon, which is our humble way of participating in the war on climate
change,” Tiu said.
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