SMC Global eyes 1,000 MW hydropower plants in Northern Luzon

MANILA, Philippines - A unit of SMC Global Power Corp. is set to build three hydropower plants with a total capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW) in northern Luzon.

Strategic Power Development Corp. (SPDC) is working on 100-MW Nabuangan run-of-river project in Apayao, a 500-MW Dingalan Pumped Storage hydroelectric power plant in Aurora and a 400-MW San Roque lower east pumped storage in Pangasinan, data from the Department of Energy (DOE) showed.

The DOE has allowed the company to undertake grid impact studies to determine if the electricity to be generated by the power projects can be absorbed by the grid.

Last year, SPDC secured the same approval for its 400-MW San Roque optimization hydropower project in Pangasinan, 600-MW San Roque Upper East pumped storage and 400-MW San Roque Upper West pumped-storage project in Benguet.

The subsidiary of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. currently trades the capacity of the 345-MW San Roque multipurpose hydroelectric power plant in San Manuel, Pangasinan. The San Miguel Group through SPDC won the right to manage the supply contract in 2009 with a $450 million bid.

Apart from the San Roque plant, the group co-owns the Angat hydropower plant in Bulacan with Korea Water Resources Corp. under Angat Hydropower Corp.

A concrete water reservoir embankment hydroelectric dam, the 47-year-old Angat Dam supplies more than 90 percent of Metro Manila’s water requirements while its power plant generates 218 MW.

The team-up are currently implementing the P1-billion Angat Dam rehabilitation project to improve the stability of the facility especially during natural calamities such as stronger earthquakes.

SMC Global has a total capacity of 2,913 MW as of end-2016, based on its latest annual report. One of the largest power companies in the country, it has a 17-percent share in the national grid, 21 percent in Luzon and seven percent in Mindanao.