Isabela Power, Malaysian firm eye partnership

MANILA, Philippines—Local power developer Isabela Power Corp. is in talks with Alloy-MTD Group of Malaysia for a possible partnership for a proposed $150-million (roughly P6 billion) hydropower plant in Isabela.

In a briefing, Isabela Power president Alberto G. Rodriguez explained that the company hoped to start within the year the construction of the 54-megawatt hydropower facility.

Rodriguez declined, however, to disclose the kind of partnership to be entered into by the parties. He also did not cite a timetable for the completion of negotiations, noting only that the “ball is in [Alloy-MTD’s] court.”

Should the partnership push through, Isabela Power targets to complete the facility by 2015.

A portion of the power to be generated by the four-unit hydropower plant will be fed to the Isabela Electric Cooperative (Iselco), he added.

Isabela Power, according to Rodriguez, also hopes to be awarded by the Department of Energy an allocation from the limited 760-MW installation target.

When a renewable energy project is given an allocation, it will be eligible for feed-in-tariff rates, which assure developers of fixed cash flows within 20 years.

The planned 54-MW hydropower facility is Isabela Power’s first project.

The plan is to embark on several other projects in various municipalities in Isabela to build a 200-MW hydropower portfolio, Rodriguez added.

At present, hydropower is the dominant source of renewable energy in the country.

Previous studies indicated that the total untapped hydro resource potential was estimated at 13,097 megawatts. Of this capacity, roughly 86 percent can be developed from large hydropower projects in 18 sites, while the rest can be harnessed from 888 potential sites for mini hydropower projects.