Vivant Corp drops affiliate in hydropower business

Vivant Corp. has bailed out of its affiliate Vivant-Sta. Clara Northern Renewables Generation Corp. (VSNRGC), operator of a hydropower project in Isabela, but said it remained committed to staying in the power generation business.

Controlled by the Garcia-Escaño family of Cebu, Vivant has in its portfolio the country’s second-biggest power distributor Visayas Electric Co., which serves at least 340,000 customers.

Before selling its 48-percent interest in VSNRGC, Vivant through Vivant Energy Corp. has a power generation portfolio with a total attributable capacity of 337 megawatts.

According to Vivant, its minority stake in VSNRGC was sold to North Renewable Energy Corp., a private company with no public disclosure obligations.

“Notwithstanding the sale, Vivant Corporation will continue to develop and explore new opportunities in power generation,” Vivant said in a statement.

VSNRGC is also the administrator of the 70-MW Bakun Hydroelectric Power Plant in Alilem, Ilocos Sur.

“Vivant is always looking at diversifying our portfolio in energy and beyond,” the company added. “We always have numerous projects in the pipeline and will disclose once they are past development stages.” —RONNEL W. DOMINGO