Clean energy provider First Gen Corporation has identified several areas around its hydroelectric power plant complex in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija, which the Lopez-led power company considers potential sites for developing solar and wind farms, as well as a battery energy storage system (BESS).
First Gen vice president Ricky Carandang said that developing these additional renewable energy (RE) projects forms part of the company’s program to grow its RE portfolio capacity to 9 gigawatts (GW) by year 2030.
“Sites under consideration in Pantabangan for wind projects satisfy several criteria, like acceptable wind speeds and proximity to transmission line substations; while locations under consideration for solar farms meet their own peculiar criteria, like high irradiance and a flat terrain, aside from proximity to transmission line substations,” Carandang disclosed.
“The projects also will have no adverse impact on the environment but will instead complement the operations of First Gen’s hydro plants in the area,” Carandang also said. “In the case of floating solar, they can even help preserve the water resource in the dam by slowing down the process of evaporation.”
First Gen senior vice president Dennis Gonzales earlier told reporters that his company is studying areas for the said solar, wind and BESS projects near First Gen’s existing 132-megawatt (MW) Pantabangan-Masiway hydroelectric power plant and its newly acquired 165-MW Casecnan hydroelectric power plant.
“Those are technologies we are looking at to couple with our hydro projects,” Gonzales added. “There are several studies on-going and we see a timeframe of two to three years for these projects to come into fruition.”
First Gen has filed with the Department of Energy the corresponding applications for renewable energy service contracts for the wind projects, while studies are ongoing to confirm the viability in the locations of both ground-mounted and floating solar farms and BESS projects.
First Gen is also set to develop a pumped-storage hydroelectric project at the Aya Dam, also located within the Pantabangan-Casecnan complex. The facility, estimated to cost P6 billion, is expected to generate between 100 to 120 MW of electricity. Once First Gen secures all regulatory approvals, it will proceed with construction that will take about 36 months.
First Gen aims to grow its total capacity to 13 GW in the next six years, of which 7.5 GW will come from new RE projects. The expansion program is First Gen’s way of supporting government’s own plan of increasing RE’s share in the country’s power mix to 35 percent by year 2030.
Last February, the government formally handed over the Casecnan hydro facility to First Gen’s wholly owned subsidiary Fresh River Lakes Corporation (FRLC). The handover completes the government’s sale of the Casecnan power plant, which state-led Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation bid out last year. The auction, which was part of the government’s privatization program, was topped by FRLC.
In acquiring the Casecnan power plant, First Gen has expanded the combined capacity of its low-carbon power plants to 3,666 MW, thereby solidifying its position as the country’s leading clean energy provider.
Aside from hydro, the First Gen power plants run on other renewable energy sources — geothermal, solar, and wind — and on natural gas, considered the cleanest fossil fuel.
