The National Water Resources Board awarded a permit to Ibulao Mini Hydro Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of renewable energy firm Alternergy Holdings Corp.
“The award of the water permit is a significant milestone in the development of our Ibulao 2 run-of-river hydropower project, which forms part of our portfolio of projects in Ifugao,” IMHC president and chief executive and Alternergy director Eduardo Martinez Miranda said.
He said the construction of Alternergy’s 17.4-megawatt Asin-Hungduan and Ibulao1 [rojects in the municipality of Kiangan was in full swing, while the 6.8-MW Lamut project in the municipalities of Lamut and Asipulo was shovel-ready for construction.
The Ibulao 2 hydro project involves the development of the 7.4-MW hydro project in Barangay Bolog in Kiangan and Barangay Caba in Lagawe. It will harness a portion of the flow of water from the Ibulao River to convert it into a reliable, clean and environment-friendly renewable power.
Miranda said they would pursue additional permitting activities, particularly the consent from the indigenous peoples.
“In the coming months, we will commence the conduct of the activities to obtain the Free and Prior Informed Consent of our host indigenous cultural communities. This a long and tedious process but we already gained experience from our other projects. We are confident in due course we will have the consent of the communities,” he said.
The Ibulao 2 hydro project and the 7.6-MW Ibulao 1 hydro project form part of Alternergy’s five-year expansion plan. Alternergy aims to develop up to 1,370 MW of additional wind, offshore wind, solar and run-of-river hydro projects.
Alternergy will use part of the proceeds from its upcoming initial public offering to fund pre-development activities of projects in the pipeline including the Ibulao 2 project.
Alternergy is offering up to 1.150 billion in primary shares, representing 30.11 percent of the company’s economic ownership, at an offer price of up to P1.48 apiece.
Book building started on Feb. 17, 2023 and will last until March 6, 2023. The price setting date is set on Mar. 7, 2023. The offer period starts on Mar. 13, 2023 and ends on Mar. 17, 2023.
The company will list its shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange on Mar. 24, 2023.