Prime Infrastructure eyes early finish for Rizal hydro

MANILA, Philippines — Razon-led Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. is racing to bring its $2.57-billion hydropower project in Rizal online ahead of schedule.

Prime Infra president and CEO Guillaume Lucci said he is hopeful that the Wawa pumped storage hydro (PSH) facility can be completed before 2030, or by the first quarter of that year at the latest.

“Our goal is very simple: to deliver on our promise. We are doing well so far,” Lucci said in an interview over the weekend.

He highlighted the project’s role in strengthening energy security and supporting the integration of more variable renewable energy sources into the grid.

“Whenever you need more power, you can call on the pumped storage facility to bring it. So, this is a very much awaited project,” Lucci said.

PSH facilities act like a giant rechargeable battery that uses electricity to pump water during low energy demand and releases water to generate power during high demand.

Being developed by Olympia Violago Water & Power Inc. (OVWPI), Wawa PSH is now about 18 percent complete, with several key components already in place.

Upon full completion, the facility is expected to deliver 600 megawatts of generating output and 6,000 MW-hours of energy storage.

“It’s a complicated project. A hydro project usually takes 10, 15 years to finish, but this was very well done. And they’re delivering, I guess, on time and on budget. So, it’s been very well planned,” Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said.

Garin said projects like Wawa PSH would play a vital role in the country’s energy transition, noting that the shift to cleaner power cannot rely on solar alone.

Beyond Wawa, Prime Infra is also developing the $5.03-billion Pakil PSH project in Laguna, which is likewise targeted for completion by 2030 and will have a capacity of 1,400 MW.

Both projects secured 20-year contracts under the government’s third green energy auction, providing Prime Infra and its partners with long-term revenue certainty.

Last month, Japan’s Kansai Electric Power Co. Inc. entered into definitive agreements to acquire a 14-percent equity interest in Prime Infra’s PMJVCo Holdings Inc., the parent company of OVWPI.

The deal, whose financial terms were not disclosed, marked the first overseas PSH investment by Japan’s second-largest power utility.

Following the transaction, PMJVCo will be 86-percent owned by Prime Hydropower Energy Inc., where the Lopez Group’s FGEN Aqua Power Holdings Inc. has a 33-percent stake.