Local renewable energy firm Belisama Hydro Corp. is keen on developing an 800 MW pumped-storage hydro power plant in Laguna.
Based on a draft environmental impact statement submitted to the Environmental Management Bureau, the proposed project will take four years to be completed with a project cost of P41 billion.
However, the said amount is set to be adjusted upward as the cost was pegged when exchange rates were only at P52.53 per US dollar as of the last quarter of 2018.
The company addedt a major benefit of the pumped-storage facility project is that it will only use a minimal amount of water requirement during operation equivalent to only about 0.5 percent of Laguna de Bay’s volume.
Belisama added the project will generate power by pumping water from the lake into an upper reservoir that will be discharged and in turn, surge to turbines connected to generators before going back to the lake.
Based on data from the Department of Energy, as of end-August 2022, the country has 3,754 MW of installed on-grid capacity from hydro sources equivalent to 13.8 percent of the country’s total 27,153 MW installed on-grid capacity for the period. – Jed Macapagal
