Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. on Wednesday said two of its storage projects have received certificates of energy project of national significance (CEPNS) from the Department of Energy (DOE).
Prime Infrastructure Capital said the recipients include the Pakil pumped storage power project in Laguna and the Wawa pumped storage power project in Rizal that jointly cost $7.6 billion.
The Wawa project is under development by the Olympia Violago Water Power Inc., a Prime Infra subsidiary. The facility is capable of storing 6,000 megawatt hours per day and generates output of 600 megawatts but requires investing $2.57 billion.
Pumped storage hydro projects store excess capacity when there’s oversupply and dispatch the same when the supply goes back down.
The Pakil project in Laguna by Ahunan Power Inc., another subsidiary of Prime Infra, has a storage capacity of 14,000 MWh per day and generate output capacity of 1,400 MW.
The project required investing $5.03 billion and was seen as among the largest pumped storage power plants in Asia when completed.
Both projects received the Green Lane endorsement from the Department of Trade and Industry and the Board of Investments in April and begin commercial operations in 2030.
“These are critical projects, essential to energy transition and to enhance grid security through flexible energy generation,” said Guillaume Lucci, Prime Infra president and chief executive officer, in a statement.
CEPNS are issued to power projects with significant impact on the country’s energy sufficiency, security, reliability and stability, economic development, technological progress and environmental protection.
Such projects access the speedy issuance of permits and clearances required of energy projects by the different government agencies.
Under current rules, CEPNS-eligible projects have capital investments of at least P3.5 billion.
