A Filipino-French joint venture building a $25-million pilot phase of an ocean tidal power plant in San Bernardino Strait, envisioned to be the first in the Philippines and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region, has urged the government to approve the creation of a single state-run guarantee agency.
By integrating the four guarantee agencies, the country will be in a better position to finance developmental projects by the private sector, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III earlier said.
“Ocean power needs strong government support. The kinetic energy of tidal currents produces stable electricity supply. This is real ‘grid smart’ technology because it can provide steady ancillary service supporting the transmission of electricity from generation to customers up to far-flung areas,” said Antonio A. Ver, president of H&WB Asia Pacific (Pte. Ltd.) Corp.
San Bernardino Ocean Power Corp. (SBOPC) is the special purpose company of H&WB and French marine energies’ technologies and engineering company Sabella Société par Actions Simplifiée (Sabella) for an ocean power-plant project aimed to boost the renewable-energy portfolio of the country.
The pioneering project was shortlisted in May 2017 for possible financing under the fifth funding cycle of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena)/Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD). However, ADFD requires a government guarantee letter and eventually a guarantee agreement for loan applicants that are private entities, such as SBOPC. In its report, entitled “The Renewable Readiness Assessment, The Philippines,” Irena has recognized the abundance of ocean energy in the country due to its inherently archipelagic geography. The report also cited the San Bernardino Strait project.
The project is also consistent with the Philippines’s climate-change initiatives. In a show of commitment to the groundbreaking project, H&WB and Sabella officials will attend the historic “One Planet Summit” on December 11 and 12 in Paris, France. Billed as a follow-up to the landmark Paris climate accord reached in 2015, the summit is expected to gather around 2,000 people from the government and the private sector from more than 100 countries to focus on financing to combat climate change.
Ver said the government’s plan to establish a single government-guarantee system, which was endorsed in October by the governance commission for government-owned or -controlled corporations for President Duterte’s approval, will bolster the chances of SBOPC getting the international funding. “The ADFD loan facility is an effective financing strategy for the San Bernardino ocean power plant and securing the funding will certainly accelerate the construction and development phases of the project and jump-start the development of ocean energy,” Ver added. He said the plant is a “scalable proof of concept” that would allow ramping up tidal in-stream energy conversion technology, an ocean-power technology mostly adaptable, or the technology-of-choice, in Philippine waters.
The huge potential of San Bernardino Strait for ocean power plant is expected to provide reliable and clean power supply initially to 25,000 people living in the island of Capul, which is off-grid under the Small islands Power Utility Group of the National Power Corp. The project could spur economic development in nearby municipalities of San Antonio and the major towns of the provinces of Sorsogon and Northern Samar within SBOPC’s concession areas when power is switched on. The capacity of the tidal farm increases to electrify Calintaan and Matnog in Sorsogon that have a demand of up to 20 megawatt for the next three years.
The project has undergone public consultation with the Renewable Energy Management Bureau of the Department of Energy on October 24 in Capul. The Philippine National Oil Company Renewable Energy Corp. has also signified its interest to invest in the project. Capul’s local government and communities have been supportive of the project toward reaching its fulfillment.