Alternergy Holdings Corp. and Exeter Portofino Holdings Inc. said Thursday they will jointly develop a run-of-river hydropower project in Lamut and Asipulo in Ifugao province.
Lamut-Asipulo Mini Hydro Corp. president Eduardo Martinez Miranda said the development of hydropower projects could be long gestation, but “the benefits of clean and renewable power are long-term and significant.”
The parties did not give additional details, but data from the Department of Energy showed the project has a potential capacity of 6.8 megawatts.
The Lamut-Asipulo hydro project will harness water from the Cawayan River to convert it into clean and environment-friendly renewable power. Its project site is within the ancestral domains of the Kalanguya, Ayangan and Tuwali indigenous cultural communities.
LMHC signed a memorandum of agreement with the indigenous peoples in the area and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples en banc issued the certification precondition for the project.
The Lamut-Asipulo hydropower project is in an advanced stage of development. It is expected to issue the notice to proceed for early construction works in the coming months with the entry of Exeter as a co-partner.
“Exeter and Alternergy share the same commitment to sustainability and improvement of the local communities and cultural heritage. The Lamut-Asipulo hydropower project is also an opportunity for us to continue and expand the work our family has started in Ifugao,” Exeter chairperson Sara Soliven de Guzman said.
Her family, through Dr. Preciosa Soliven, who was secretary-general of the Philippine National Commission, actively promoted the preservation of Ifugao Heritage Sites under the UNESCO program and supported educational improvement among children in Ifugao through Operation Brotherhood Community Foundation.
“Our family has deep ties in Ifugao, and we look forward to strengthening this together with Alternergy in harnessing renewable energy and helping uplift the lives of the Ifugaos,” Soliven de Guzman said.
The Lamut-Asipulo hydropower project forms part of Alternergy’s goal of building 1,370 MW of renewable energy capacity in the next five years.