First Gen pumping P38 billion into hydro expansion

MANILA, Philippines — Lopez-led First Gen Corp. is surging ahead in the hydropower space with plans to channel roughly $652 million (P38.4 billion) to build four major projects across the country.

“Right now, our pipeline is roughly 200 megawatts,” First Gen senior vice president Dennis Michael Gonzales told reporters yesterday on the sidelines of the 2025 Philippine Hydro Summit and Exhibition.

These projects include the 100-megawatt Aya pumped-storage in Luzon and three run-of-river (ROR) hydro facilities — 42-MW Puyo, 32-MW Bubunawan and 39-MW San Isidro — across Mindanao.

“Aya is somewhere a little over $200 million,” Gonzales said when asked about the estimated investment for the pumped storage hydro project.

First Gen, meanwhile, plans to allocate around $4 million per MW of ROR hydro projects, he said.

“Aya is a three-year construction period, so we’re still getting the permit with the NIA (National Irrigation Administration) because there are facilities that are owned by the NIA that we will use,” Gonzales added.

While the official timeline remains under wraps for other projects, Gonzales estimates that ROR hydro developments could also take three years or more to complete.

Currently, First Gen operates three hydro facilities with a combined output of close to 300 MW, accounting for around eight percent of the country’s total hydro capacity.

Its hydro portfolio consists of the 132-MW Pantabangan-Masiway facility, the 1.6-MW Agusan mini-hydro plant and the 165-MW Casecnan plant, which First Gen acquired from the government last year.

“ROR brings with it the firming capacity of hydro, grid stability, reserve capacity and other ancillary services while minimizing environmental impact,” Gonzales said.

Given the challenges in building and operating these projects, Gonzales has called for stronger public sector support from the national level down to local government units.

“When regulation recognizes the nuances of hydro and different RE (renewable energy) technologies for that matter, we can unlock the potential of a 24/7 clean and renewable energy future,” he said.

Earlier, Philhydro Association Inc., a group of hydropower developers, urged the government to implement higher feed-in tariff (FIT) rates for ROR hydro projects.

The FIT program, which offers guaranteed fixed payments for emerging RE facilities, currently sets a rate ranging from P5.90 to P5.99 per kWh for ROR hydro.