Lopez-led power generation firm First Gen Corp. has been awarded a hydro service contract by the Department of Energy to develop a 120 megawatts (MW) pumped-storage hydroelectric facility in Aya, Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija.
The company, through its subsidiary First Gen Hydro Power Corp., owns and operates the existing 132 MW Pantabangan-Masiway hydroelectric power plant project in Pantabangan.
Once completed, the new Aya project will allow water to be pumped into a reservoir for use at a later time.
The service contract grants First Gen five years to conduct pre-development stage activities — from a preliminary assessment and feasibility study up to financial closing and declaration of commerciality.
“While renewable energy is clean and sustainable, it isn’t always available when it’s needed but with a pump storage facility like the one we want to build in Pantabangan, we will be able to store some of the energy generated by the dam and deploy it when it’s needed,” Ricky Carandang, the power firm’s vice president, said in a statement.
A pumped-storage facility stores and generates electricity by moving a volume of water between two reservoirs situated at different elevations. They can be flexibly operated to provide ancillary services to electricity grid for grid security and stability.
Earlier, First Gen signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Irrigation Administration related to the development of the same Aya hydro project.
The company is also pursuing other hydroelectric projects in Bukidnon and Agusan del Norte.
At present, First Gen has 3,492 MW of installed capacity in its portfolio from natural gas, geothermal, hydro-electric, wind and solar power sources.
