The Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) will partially finance a P2.6-billion 15-megawatt hydropower plant in Bukidnon that seeks to contribute to the country’s climate change mitigation efforts.
In a statement, LandBank said it signed a loan agreement facility with Cabanglasan Hydropower Corp. (CHC), a subsidiary of Repower Energy Development Corp. (REDC), for the latter’s hydropower plant project in Bukidnon.
The loan facility was under the bank’s Renewable Energy Program, which seeks to finance the development of renewable energy sources in the country.
The run-of-river hydropower plant by CHC will be developed on the Pulangi River in Barangay Lumbayao, Valencia City, “to sustainably improve the quality and reliability of energy supply” in nearby cities and towns in Bukidnon province, according to LandBank.
Once completed by 2025, the hydropower plant is projected to power about 130,000 households across 15 municipalities in Bukidnon.
“Through the years, LandBank has collaborated with REDC and its subsidiaries towards advancing clean, sustainable and reliable sources of renewable energy. We actively support local projects that aim to secure a safe and sustainable future for the country, as part of our broader commitment to help build sustainable and resilient communities,” LandBank President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo was quoted in a statement as saying.
The loan signing was led by Borromeo and Pure Energy Holdings Corp. and CHC Chairman Dexter Y. Tiu earlier this month at the LandBank Plaza in Manila.
They were joined by REDC President and CHC Director Eric Peter Y. Roxas, CHC President Johnson A. Sanhi Jr. and LandBank Senior Vice Presidents Celeste A. Burgos and Lucila E. Tesorero, among other bank officers, according to LandBank.
“In just six short years of development, our group has brought 10 renewable energy power plants to operations—of which six are run-of-river hydropower, contributing around 50MW of clean energy to the grid. We have several hydropower projects under construction and in the pipeline, which we intend to bring to operations in the near future to help the country transition into a clean renewable energy phase,” Roxas said.
LandBank said as of end-October it has approved a total of P20.1 billion in loans to 56 borrowers under its Renewable Energy Program. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas