Repower to build first seawater pumped storage hydro project in PH
By Alena Mae S. Flores – April 22, 2024, 7:30 pm
from manilastandard.net
The Department of Energy granted Repower Energy Development Corp. (REDC) a hydropower service contract to develop and build a 320-megawatt seawater pump storage hydropower facility in Real, Quezon.
REDC said in a statement Monday it would soon build the project following the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Austria-based Gugler Water Turbines GMBH (Gugler).
The first project under the MOA will be in an elevation of around 300 meters above sea level, and the lower reservoir will utilize the coastline for unlimited seawater intake.
REDC will be responsible for the funding of the pre-feasibility and initial activities.
“The development of a seawater pumped storage hydropower facility in Real, Quezon shall be the first of its kind in the Philippines, thus allowing the company to be a pioneering force in this particular area of clean energy,” REDC president and chief executive Eric Peter Roxas said.
The pumped-storage hydro system on the northern coast of Okinawa Island, Japan was the world’s first pumped-storage facility to use seawater for storing energy. The power station was a pure pumped-storage facility, using the Philippine Sea as its lower reservoir.
REDC signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) for the development of mini hydropower plants in three areas where the NIA has existing infrastructure.
It asked for the NIA’s permission to conduct comprehensive studies on the economic, financial and technical viability of the projects.
These projects cover the river irrigation systems (RIS) in Barangay Dapdap, Tayabas, Quezon; Barangay Sta. Justina in Iriga City, Camarines Sur; and Barangay Poblacion in Pilar, Bohol.
Meanwhile, the DOE also awarded REDC wind energy service contracts totaling 500 megawatts that would further expand its portfolio of clean-energy facilities around the country.
The 25-year wind contracts would allow the company to build the wind farms in Real and Mauban, Quezon Province.
