SNAP looking to build energy storage facility
SN AboitizPower (SNAP) is set to build a $28-million 20-megawatt battery energy storage system (BESS) facility at its Magat Hydro Electric Power Plant.
In a statement on Friday, SNAP said construction would begin in 2020 and it aimed to start operations by 2022 once the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) approves the facility’s ancillary services procurement agreement.
The renewable energy company’s board of directors recently approved the conduct of a feasibility study on the facility that will begin next year, it added.
Once built, the facility will be used to boost SNAP’s ancillary services and standby power supply that it can tap if regular supply falls short.
“You can think of battery energy storage as a giant power bank. With BESS, we will have a battery facility that is connected to the grid, where we can withdraw power from when necessary,” SNAP Group President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Yu said in the statement.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has classified BESS as a new source of frequency control ancillary services, which are meant to support the transmission of capacity and energy from resources to loads, while keeping the transmission system’s operation reliable.
A joint venture between SN Power of Norway and Aboitiz Power Corp. (AboitizPower), SNAP owns and operates four hydropower plants: the 360-380-megawatt (MW) Magat on the border of Isabela and Ifugao provinces; the 8.5-MW Maris in Isabela; and the 105-MW Ambuklao and P140-MW Binga in Benguet.
Incorporated on Feb. 13, 1998, AboitizPower is the holding company of the Aboitiz Group’s investments in power generation and distribution, and retail electricity and other related services.
It holds all its renewable energy investments through wholly owned Aboitiz Renewables, Inc. and non-renewable energy through Therma Power, Inc.
The company has ownership interests in eight distribution utilities, which collectively supply electricity to franchise areas covering 18 cities and municipalities.
AboitizPower shares rose by 1 centavo to close at P33.10 on Friday.