Aboitiz Group to build 2 new hydro power plants next year

Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) expects the construction of two new hydro power facilities in Mindanao next year.

AEV chief operating officer Erramon Aboitiz said the two new hydro power plants will have a total capacity of 70 megawatt (MW).

Aboitiz said these hydro power plants are included in the priority projects of AEV for 2007.

"Regardless of whether we win the bidding (for Pantabangan/Masiway hydro power plants), we will build the hydros in Mindanao," he said.

AEV has expressed keen interest to join the bidding for Pantabangan/Masiway that would be auctioned off by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) in October.

Aboitiz Power Corp., a unit of AEV, formed a joint venture company with SN Power Holding Singapore, a unit of SN Power Invest of Norway, to bid for Napocor’s three hydro power plants.

The consortium, which will be named SN Aboitiz Power (SNAP), is one of the initial steps required by the PSALM as part of the bid process for the sale of Magat and the package of Pantabangan and Masiway hydro power plants.

The Aboitiz Group, through its wholly owned subsidiary HEDCOR Inc., is the pioneer and industry leader in the development, operation and management of hydropower plants.

Through its "Cleanergy" brand, HEDCOR Inc. advocates the production of clean, renewable and environmentally friendly energy, the kind provided by its run-of-river mini hydro systems.

HEDCOR Inc. is the largest developer of mini hydropower in the Philippines, operating 19 generating facilities in Benguet and Davao with 113 megawatts of total installed capacity.

SN Power and its international subsidiaries develop, invest in and operate power generating assets on a long-term basis with focus on hydroelectric generation in selected markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

At present, SN Power is drawing on the industrial and financial experience and strengths of its joint Norwegian owners Statkraft and Norfund (Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries).

Statkraft has operational hydropower experience for more than a 100 years, and is Europe’s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Statkraft owns wholly or partly more than 90 hydro power plants in Europe as well as in Asia and Latin America with an average annual production of over 42 TWh a year.