Magis Energy to completenew hydroplant in Samar

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino renewable energy developer Magis Energy Holdings Corp. expects its 16-megawatt hydropower facility in Eastern Samar to start operations by the end of the year.

The power project is under Taft Hydro Energy Corp., which holds a hydro service contract from the Department of Energy (DOE).

THEC president Benjie Picardo said the project is now more than 98 percent complete and would be ready by the end of the year to provide power in time for the holiday peak demand season.

Picardo said the project’s completion is said to be “a record breaker in terms of its construction period of only about 18 months.”

The project is envisioned to provide power to the island of Samar which is part of the country’s tuna highway.

Unfortunately, the lack of power has constrained investments in cold storage facilities for tuna fishermen to be able to maximize the potential of the tuna industry.

With THEC, “the project’s major economic multiplier will be the opening of investment opportunities in cold storage, processing plants, and even in tourism,” Picardo said.

Magis Energy is a Filipino company set up in 2019 to harness the power of renewable energy sources with the aim of spurring growth in rural communities that have not been given access to power.

It is also the owner of Matuno River Development Corp., the project company responsible for the 8.6-MW hydroelectric project in Bamban, Nueva Vizcaya. The  project is also set to start operating in December.

Magis Energy is committed to support the DOE’s renewable energy drive towards a 35 percent share in the energy mix by 2030.