United Holdings to expand renewable energy portfolio

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino-owned energy company United Holdings Power Corp. is eyeing opportunities in wind and solar power by acquiring service contracts or partnering with other existing renewable energy companies, its top official said yesterday.

“We’re actively looking for other renewable energy projects,” United Holdings president Dominic Sytin told reporters.

He said the search for other viable opportunities is ongoing and that the company hopes to firm up some projects as early as next year.

The company, which is already into hydropower projects, is looking at a capacity of 20 megawatts for hydropower, 40 to 50 MW for solar and 20 to 30 MW for wind.

The company is already developing a 15-MW hydropower project plant in Bukidnon, a project seen to help ease the power shortage in Mindanao.

The 15-MW Upper and Lower cascading mini-hydro project will tap the Maladugao River in Lampanusan, Kalilangan, Bukidnon.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded the service contract for the hydro project to UHPC last March 19 with the full feasibility study recently completed.

Verge 3 Consult Inc. engineer Manuel Vergel III acts as project consultant of the UHPC hydropower project.

He said the project would generate more than 100 gigawatt-hours of additional energy to augment and help ease the power shortage in Mindanao by the second quarter of 2017.

Sytin said the company is supporting the DOE’s Power Development Plan & Philippine Energy Plan, which aims to increase the Philippines’ self sufficiency in energy using environment friendly, cleaner fuels by firming up the entry of renewable energy capacities.

He said hydropower is clean, very sustainable and is easy to maintain.

In choosing Bukidnon for his project, Sytin said the province is touted as the watershed of Mindanao.

For the other hydropower projects, as well as the wind and solar, Sytin said the company is actively looking at opportunities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.