Published January 27, 2018, 10:00 PM
By Myrna M.
Velasco
Ramon, Isabela – Final investment
decision (FID) is expected from the board of directors of SN Aboitiz Power,
Inc. (SNAP) first half of this year for the 350-megawatt Alimit hydropower
project to finally move headway into full commercial development.
Aboitiz Power Corporation President
and Chief Operating Officer Antonio R. Moraza told media during the inaugural
rites on the commercial operations of SNAP’s 8.5MW Maris run-of-river
hydropower project, that “we have to decide as a Board what to do next. And
that decision should be soon,” qualifying further that the timeline is within
this year’s first semester.
The Alimit hydropower venture is of three
components: The 100M-megawatt Alimit plant; the 10MW Olilicon and the 240MW
Alimit pumped storage facility.
For this phased-developments, Moraza
noted that the corresponding investment shall be US$4.0 million per megawatt,
hence, the whole project cost may run up to US$1.4 billion.
The initial phase that may start
with the 100MW Ailimit hydropower plant, may command total capital outlay of
US$500 million to US$600 million, according to Moraza.
He further noted that the project
seemed to have secured successfully already the nod of the host communities,
hence, next phase of development will already move to major engineering works.
“In every project that we undertake,
obviously we do feasibility studies but we have to handle stakeholders, the
community. So it seems that we’re positive in the community now,” Moraza
stressed.
The AP executive then qualified that
what comes next will be “the start of pouring in of the big bucks, major amount
of money that will be put into engineering works.”
From SNAP Board’s decision point,
Moraza emphasized that it may take four (4) more years before the hydropower
project would inch up to operational fruition.
It is thus apparent that this will
be part of the power grid’s supply solution in year 2022, which is still well within
the targeted implementation timeframe of SNAP.
As previously indicated by the
project sponsor-firm, the Alimit hydropower facility will be strategically
positioned “for the power system’s need for mid-merit and additional ancillary
services capacities.”
On SNAP’s newly inaugurated Maris
hydropower facility, the company noted that this is being aligned for the
extended feed-in-tariff (FIT) incentive for such kind of technology
development.
The Maris plant utilizes water from
the Magat hydro that goes through the Maris re-regulating dam located at
downstream part of the Magat River, before flowing into the Maris main (south)
irrigation canal.
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