TWO renewable energy companies, one with roots in Mindanao, have expressed interest in rehabilitating state-run hydropower plants across Bukidnon and Lanao provinces.
Cerael Donggay, president and chief executive officer of Greenergy Development Corporation, confirmed the company submitted an unsolicited bid to the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (Psalm) Corporation.
The proposal covers the rehabilitation of the Agus hydro plants in Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte, and the Pulangi hydro plant in Bukidnon province.
Donggay said that Greenergy proposed to undertake the rehabilitation work for P29 billion over a 10-year period.
“After that, we proposed to Psalm to transfer the operations and management, including the financial [aspects], to our company,” Donggay said.
He noted that Greenergy’s team is composed of former engineers from the hydro plants who are familiar with the facilities’ machinery and operations.
Psalm plans to restore the combined capacity of the Agus and Pulangi hydro plants to 1,000 megawatts (MW) from its current 600 MW, estimating the rehabilitation cost at P16.71 billion under a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.
The government’s rehabilitation plan is split into two phases: Phase 1 targets the Agus IV, V, VI, and VII plants in Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte, while Phase 2 focuses on the Pulangi IV hydro plant.
The project has also drawn the attention of First Gen Corporation, a Manila-based firm with existing interests in renewable projects in Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro.
First Gen Vice President for Strategy and Planning Jon Joel Soriano said the company is currently evaluating the government’s rehabilitation plan to determine potential investment opportunities and assess the move’s advantage to their business.
First Gen currently operates a small 1-MW bypass project in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, and has proposed a larger 35-MW bypass hydro plant that would divert a portion of the Cagayan River.
