350 hydro projects up for auction

MANILA, Philippines–The Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) have agreed to auction off mini-hydroelectric power projects to help boost the country’s power supply by maximizing irrigation assets.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla and NIA Administrator Florencio Padernal signed a memorandum of agreement on a “joint undertaking” to identify, study, and implement minihydro power projects nationwide.

Officials from both agencies said that the cooperation could result in the development of at least 350 sites via competitive bidding. Each site may generate at least 300 kilowatts (kW) to 1 megawatt (MW) or slightly more.

“The agreement is on the use of NIA’s irrigation canals for power generation. The DOE is only for the service contract. The NIA gives the contract to develop those irrigation canals. This is actually to harmonize everything so that when the sites are [auctioned off], investors only go through one process,” Petilla explained.

Noting that the privatization of the power sector has made government ventures into energy a thing of the past, Petilla said it would make the minihydro projects easier to implement if the private firms were to undertake them instead of the government-run NIA.

Padernal said the NIA and DOE would arrange an investors’ forum to drum up interest in building minihydro sites.

According to the NIA, it hopes to generate income from the minihydro projects and contribute to rural electrification.

The NIA has even submitted to Japan International Cooperation Agency’s Philippines office an updated list of potential sites that may require some assistance from the Japanese agency.