Alternergy debuts Nueva Ecija hydro plant

Alternergy Holdings Corp., a listed renewable energy producer, has switched on its P1.7-billion run-of-river (ROR) hydro power facility in Nueva Ecija.

The company on Monday said the 5-megawatt (MW) Dupinga ROR hydro power plant has begun injecting electricity into the grid.

It has the capability to generate 23,000 megawatt hours per year of power supply to Nueva Ecija Electric Cooperative II – Area 2 for 25 years.

The Dupinga power plant can energize about 13,000 households with clean electricity.

“The Dupinga Project was a long time in the making. It navigated through the impacts of various challenges from permitting to indigenous peoples engagements to climate-related events, pandemic and geopolitics,” said Eduardo Martinez Miranda, president of Alternergy Mini Hydro Holdings Corp.

This is the second renewable energy asset that Alternergy fired up this year, following the 28-megawatt peak Balsik solar farm in Bataan.

Its president Gerry Magbanua, meanwhile, said the activation of the hydro asset now “completes Alternergy’s triple-play portfolio of wind, solar and hydro renewable resources… [which] is expected to boost Alternergy’s asset base and share value to our investors.”

Now, the company said it would focus its investments on other ROR projects in Kiangan, Ifugao province.

The group is confident of activating two more projects: the 128 MW Tanay and the 64 MW Alabat Wind Power projects.

Earlier this March, the company said it had secured approval from the country’s competition watchdog to pursue its P2.4-billion acquisition deal with A Brown Co.