Rio Norte Hydro Corp. signed an agreement with Isabela province and the municipality of Echague to develop a 19.7-megawatt run-of-river hydropower project in Barangay San Miguel, Echague along the Ilaguen River.
Rio Norte is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Citicore Power Inc., one of the leading renewable energy companies in the country. Citicore has a total capacity of 163 megawatts from eight solar farms in Bataan, Bulacan, Cebu, Negros Occidental, Pampanga, and South Cotabato provinces.
Rio Norte vice president for legal and government affairs Clarence Jandoc said run-of-river power was considered one of the most environment-friendly energy methods available as it harnesses the natural flow of water to generate electricity.
Jandoc said hydro plants “produces nearly no greenhouse emissions” and that Rio Norte’s project was expected to supply 85 million kilowatts of energy a year to the cities of Cauayan and Santiago and the municipalities of Alicia, Angadanan, Cabatuan, Cordon, Echague, Jones, Luna, Ramon, Reina Mercedes, San Agustin, San Guillermo, San Isidro, and San Mateo.