AboitizPower sustains strong foothold in hydropower business

On the back of a strong demand for renewable energy (RE), AboitizPower continues to ramp up its portfolio of generation facilities across the Philippines. 

AboitizPower’s subsidiary, SN AboitizPower, has completed the commissioning of its 8.5-megawatt (MW) Maris Main Canal 1 hydroelectric power plant, as it gears toward full commercial operation this November.

The plant re-utilizes the water coming from the 360-MW Magat hydro plant through the re-regulating dam located downstream of Magat. The water then flows into the Maris Main (South) Irrigation Canal. The project was made possible with the support of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), Department of Energy (DOE), host communities, and local government units.

Maris hydro is the first greenfield project of SNAP. It is composed of two units of Kaplan pit type turbines with generator nameplate capacity of 4.25 MW each. Unit 1 was commissioned on October 24 while Unit 2 was commissioned on November 6. The construction of the US$47-million hydro plant, located in Brgy. Ambatali in Ramon, Isabela, took about two years.

Meanwhile, in October, AboitizPower’s run-of-river hydro business unit, Hedcor, signed civil works contract with UK-based contractor, Whessoe, for its 19-MW Bineng Combined Hydropower Project in Benguet. The project, which will increase the combined capacity of the Bineng plants from 5.48 MW to 19 MW, was approved by the municipal council of La Trinidad in July this year.

In addition, Hedcor’s 69-MW Manolo Fortich project, also a run-of-river hydro, which is currently synchronizing to the grid, is targeted for commercial operations in 2017 or early 2018. Once completed, it will increase Hedcor’s capacity of 185 MW of clean and renewable energy from 22 hydropower plants nationwide.

This brings AboitizPower’s advanced hydro project developments at present to around 97 MW.

Antonio R. Moraza, AboitizPower President and COO, said that the company’s continued expansion of RE portfolio is in line with its balanced mix growth strategy.

“We never stop looking for ways to maximize productions from our RE facilities because we know the role it plays in our overall strategy,” Moraza said.

Moraza also added that apart from new RE businesses, the company also explores innovative ways to maximize clean and renewable energy sources.

“If we can maximize the potential to produce more energy from an existing resource, we will do it, and that is what we did with Maris, as well as the binary plant in Makban, and soon in Bineng. And our teams will continue to look at these opportunities, as well as new greenfield renewable projects wherever they are available and viable,” Moraza said.

AboitizPower and its partners currently have a total of 787-MW capacity from hydropower generation facilities, which make up 62% of the total 1,263-MW RE capacity. The company also owns the 4th and the 7th largest geothermal power plants in the world, which are the 448-MW MakBan Geothermal Power Plant in Laguna and Batangas, and the 234-MW Tiwi Geothermal Power Plant in Albay, respectively. In 2016, AboitizPower also launched its first venture into solar power in Negros.