First Gen banking on hydro power plants 

Lopez-led First Gen Corp. is betting big on its hydropower investments, expecting the segment to become a growth driver with about P16 billion in profit contribution starting in 2031.

Francis Giles Puno, the company’s president and COO, expressed high hopes for the P62-billion investments in Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc.’s hydro assets, which account for about 2,000 megawatts (MW) of pumped-storage hydro capacity.

The deal involves the acquisition of a 33-percent stake in such assets. These include the 1,400-MW Pakil Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Project in Laguna and the 600-MW Wawa Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Project in Rizal.

“As renewables continue to scale, one of the central challenges facing power systems is no longer simply generation, but operational flexibility—the ability to store energy when supply is abundant, and deliver it when the system needs it most,” he said at First Gen’s annual stockholder’s meeting on Thursday.

Aside from its tie-up with Prime Infra, First Gen is also banking on its 120-MW Aya Pumped Storage project in Nueva Ecija, which is envisioned to boost the capacity of the 132-MW Pantabangan-Masiway plant complex.

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All these hydro projects are pegged to pitch in about P16 billion annually to First Gen’s bottom line through a 20-year contracted agreement under the government’s green energy auction program—making this part of its business the company’s top growth engine.

“This is about three times the historical average contribution of 60 percent of the natural gas stake between 2019 and 2024,” Puno said.