Rangas mini hydro plant starts construction

MANILA, Philippines - The consortium developing a 1.5-megawatt (MW) mini hydropower project in Camarines Sur has finally started construction of the project after six years of permitting process.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held last Friday for the 1.5 MW Rangas mini hydropower plant in the municipality of Goa, which is being built by a consortium composed of Mega Renewable Power Development, Viscal Development Corp., Brightvale Ventures, Greentech Asia, Ormin Power, and Repower Energy Development Corp. (REDC).

“We have worked on this project since 2009, the permitting process takes forever. It’s about time we commence construction and start generating power in the next 30 months,” Mega Renewable Power Development chairman Benson Lao said.

The project is set to produce 10 gigawatt hours of energy annually, allowing the franchise area of Camarines Sur IV Electric Cooperative (Casureco IV) to gain direct access to clean, sustainable energy.

Power generated by the plant will be sold at a rate of P5.75 per kilowatt-hour (kwh), versus the government-regulated Feed in Tariff (FIT) rate of P5.90/kwh. This allows Casureco IV to generate savings.