Aboitiz firm switches on Norway-backed hydropower plant

RAMON, Isabela—A unit of Aboitiz Power Corp. has inaugurated a project backed by the Norwegian government, a P2.15-billion 8.5-megawatt plant that harnesses power from irrigation released from the Magat Dam.

SN Aboitiz Power-Magat Inc., a joint venture of the Aboitiz group and the Oslo-based SN Power AS, on Thursday switched on the Maris (Magat River Irrigation System) main canal hydroelectric power plant with representatives from the government of Norway in attendance.

SN Power is fully owned by the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund), which is in turn owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Maris power plant relies on irrigation water flowing through a canal and released from the Magat Dam unlike the nearby Magat hydro electric power plant. The latter directly uses the kinetic energy of water impounded in the dam.

The Maris plant—located in Barangay Ambatali in this town—is equipped with two generators with a capacity of 4.25 MW each. Unit 1 was commissioned last October while Unit 2 started service the following month.