Alternergy Holdings Corp. said its subsidiary Ibulao Mini Hydro Corp. (IMHC) has secured a water permit from the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) for the development of a run-of-river hydro power plant in Ifugao province.
Eduardo Martinez Miranda, IMHC president and chief executive officer, said further permitting activities will be pursued, particularly the consent from the indigenous peoples, following the issuance of the NWRB permit for the Ibulao 2 hydro project.
“In the coming months, we will commence the conduct of the activities to obtain the Free and Prior Informed Consent of our host indigenous cultural communities. This a long and tedious process but we already gained experience from our other projects. We are confident in due course we will have the consent of the communities,” said Miranda, in a statement.
Alternergy said the development of Ibulao 2 also involves the development, construction and operation of 7.4 megawatts (MW) hydropower power to be located in Barangay Bolog in Kiangan and in Barangay Caba in Lagawe that will harness a portion of the flow of water from the Ibulao River to convert to energy.
The company said Ibulao 2 forms part of its portfolio of hydro projects in Ifugao that includes the 17.4 MW Asin-Hungduan and Ibulao 1 in Kiangan as well as the 6.8 MW Lamut project in the municipalities of Lamut and Asipulo.
Alternergy said part of the proceeds of its upcoming initial public offering will be used to fund pre-development activities of projects in the pipeline including the Ibulao 2 project.
The company is set to be listed at the Philippine Stock Exchange on March 24.
Alternergy aims to develop up to 1,370 MW of additional wind, offshore wind, solar and run of river hydro projects.
The company also has an ongoing partnership with Shell Overseas Investment B.V. to pursue offshore wind projects in the Philippines. -Jed Macapagal
