Repower to pioneer new type of hydro plant in PH

MANILA, Philippines — Tiu family-led Repower Energy Development Corp. (REDC) will be the first to construct a pumped-storage hydropower plant in the Philippines harnessing seawater.

In a disclosure Monday, REDC said it was awarded a service contract from the Department of Energy to develop the 320-megawatt facility in Real,  Quezon province.

“The development of a seawater pumped-storage hydropower facility in Real, Quezon shall be the first of its kind in the Philippines, thus allowing the company to be a pioneering force in this particular area of clean energy,” REDC president and CEO Eric Peter Roxas said.

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The listed firm did not divulge the cost or timeline for completing the plant, noting only that it would utilize internally generated funds to conduct a pre-feasibility study and initial activities related to the project.

Harnessing seawater

Such a facility usually uses two basins of water at different elevations. The transfer of water from one to the other is what generates electricity.

“The elevation of this project will be around 300 meters above sea level, and the lower reservoir will utilize the coastline for unlimited seawater intake,” it said.

According to REDC, the pumped-storage hydro system on the northern coast of Okinawa Island in Japan is the first in the world to use seawater for storing energy.

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“The power station was a pure pumped-storage facility, using the Philippine sea as its lower reservoir,” it added.

The development is part of a memorandum of agreement REDC signed with Austria-based Gugler Water Turbines GMBH for the construction of such facilities throughout the Philippines.