DBP lends P660 million for mini-hydropower plant

MANILA, Philippines — State-run Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has extended a P660-million loan financing for a hydropower project in Nueva Ecija.

DBP recently approved the P660-million funding support for the development of the 4.6- megawatt Dupinga Mini Hydropower project in the municipality of Gabaldon.

DBP president and CEO Emmanuel Herbosa said the loan is part of the bank’s contribution to support new and renewable energy sources.

The government has been emphasizing the need to bring down the country’s dependence on energy imports by developing renewable energy and indigenous sources.

Data showed that only 29 percent of the country’s current energy mix comes from renewables. The Department of Energy would like to bring the share of renewables to up to 35 percent by 2030 or to 50 percent by 2040, as outlined in the Renewable Energy Roadmap.

The bank will release the first tranche of the loan this week to begin construction activities. Project completion is expected by early 2024.

The project is a small-scale run-of-river hydropower project that will tap the Dupinga River system and convert its clean, renewable electricity supply to Nueva Ecija II – Area 2 Electric Cooperative Inc.

The project is expected to  spur economic activities and improve the welfare of the community through additional income from royalties, taxes and government share for every kilowatt of generated output.

The loan extended to Dupinga Mini Hydro Corp. is under DBP’s Financing Utilities for Sustainable Energy Development that targets to contribute to the increased access to electricity services through financing of utility-scale energy generation projects.

The project is located within the ancestral domain of the Dumagat tribe in Central Luzon and the Sierra Madre mountain ranges.

“Ensuring the completion of this project through our funding support also assures that the welfare of our indigenous people and their community as well as the Sierra Madre are protected and remains sustainable,” Herbosa said.