SN Aboitiz Power (SNAP) eyes to reduce its capital expenditure allocation for the Alimit hydro power complex in Ifugao Province by 15 to 20 percent.
“After some deliberation, we felt that capex needed a little more work so we wanted to validate the design and do some value engineering and sharpen the capex to the point we hit the number we feel comfortable with. We’re going to spend another three to six months to sharpen those technical design, do some value engineering and get a more solid number and then go back to make a decision,” said Joseph Yu, SNAP president and chief executive officer.
Yu said the goal is to bring down the capex to $4 to $5 million per megawatt (MW).
Based on earlier estimates, the first phase of the project entails the construction of the 120 MW Alimit plant and the 20 MW Olilicon plant at a cost of $450 to $550 million. The second phase involves the construction of a 250 MW Alimit pumped storage facility.
Yu said the project will likely take four to four and half years.
“If it makes it to the board and get the approval to get into pre-construction, that’s the phase where we will finalize the design, get the documents, tender it out to contractors and get firm quotes. Once we have all those in, we’ll line up the financing and then we’ll go into final investment decision. Once we get that, that’s when we break ground,” he added.
SNAP also needs to manage the process of accumulating, acquiring access to the area and make sure they work with the community.
Last June, the company secured the approval of all four host local government units in the Alimit project.
