SN Aboitiz Power (SNAP) subsidiaries SN Aboitiz Power-Benguet and SN Aboitiz Power-Magat have agreed to set aside a fraction of their sales in the region for community projects pursued by the Regional Development Council-Cordillera Administrative Region (RDC-CAR).
The agreement implements the Department of Energy’s Energy Regulation 1-94 allowing the power firms to set aside one centavo for every kilowatt-hour sold to the Cordillera communities for livelihood, environment management, and most of all for the electrification of more communities in the region.
Of the one centavo, 50 percent or P0.005 per kWh will fund the electrification of communities, 25 percent or P0.0025 per kWh will fund development and livelihood projects and the other 25 percent or P0.0025 for the reforestation, watershed management, health and/or environment enhancement activities of RDC-CAR.
The SNAP in December first projected approval of the proposed capacity expansion of its floating solar energy assets.
Joseph Yu, SNAP president and chief executive officer, expressed optimism in pursuing the floating solar energy projects with a total capacity of up to 60 megawatts.
SNAP has a 200-kilowatt floating solar facility in Magat, Isabela but plans to put up an even larger facility near term, likely in Benguet.
The business is also interested in land-based solar projects and diversifying its sources that at present consists mostly of hydro power plants.
SNAP’s other power generation plants include the 388-MW facility near Isabela and Ifugao and the 8.5-MW Maris plant also in Isabela. Both are hydroelectric.
SNAP, a joint venture between Aboitiz Power Corp. and the Norwegian renewable energy producer SCATEC ASA, also recently completed a 24-MW battery energy storage system in Magat, Isabela.
