SN Aboitiz Power inks deal with NIA on hydro project

SN Aboitiz Power-Magat, an operating subsidiary of SN Aboitiz Power, Inc. (SNAP) has sealed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) for the 8.5-megawatt hydropower project in Northern Luzon that is now advancing to construction phase.

The deal involves the utilization of the Maris Canal in the project, which is under the operation and management of government-run NIA.

“The hydroelectric power plant will use the irrigation water released from the Maris reservoir of the Maris Main (south) Canal,” Aboitiz Power has noted in its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Aboitiz Power is the joint venture partner of Norwegian firm SN Power in various hydropower projects, including this one at the Maris canal.

“The (Maris canal) project shall commence in the last quarter of 2015 and is targeted to be completed by November 2017,” Aboitiz Power added.

As earlier laid down, the minihydropower project will not only generate additional power for Luzon grid but will also shore up irrigation system for farmlands proximate to the project site.

The planned hydropower facility will straddle the provinces of Isabela and Ifugao. It was initially set to have installed capacity of 7.75MW, yet it appears now that such had been adjusted upwards.

As culled also from earlier project blueprint set out by developers, the plan is for the Maris reservoir to be raised “by adding a set of stoplogs” of about 3.0 meters high.

The project’s corporate vehicle previously emphasized that the facility can add some “eight million cubic meters of storage” and will likewise refurbish and improve the Maris dam structure.

The Maris reservoir, as noted, was designed to “re-regulate peaking generation releases from SNAP’s Magat hydroelectric power plant into sustained releases for irrigation in the downstream irrigation canals.”