Ahunan Power, a subsidiary of Prime Infrastructure, has acquired a majority stake in renewable energy developer OVWPI, which has rights to develop a 500-megawatt pumped-storage project.

Guillaume Lucci, chief executive of Prima Infra, said the agreement increases the energy storage capacity of PrimeInfra's renewable energy portfolio by 6,000MWh/day, which is defined as 500MW of maximum continuous generation for 12 hours. The facility will require an investment of around US$1 billion and will be located at the Wawa/Montalban Dam in Rizal province. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2023.

In 2017, OVWPI awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project to Power Construction Corporation of China. At the time, the project was being developed by SLRB and Equis Energ Equis.

Prime Infra is also developing a 1,400 MW pumped-storage hydropower project in Pakil, Laguna Province. Construction on the $1.11 billion project is scheduled to begin in 2023 and be completed no later than the first quarter of 2027. The first phase of the project will provide 700 megawatts of electricity to the grid for primary and tertiary backup ancillary services, while the second phase will generate 500 megawatts for medium-value services.

Prima Infra is also building a 2.5 GW to 3.5 GW solar farm linked to 4 GW to 4.5 GWh of battery storage to help power the Philippines as the country accelerates its shift to renewables transition.

According to the latest statistics from the International Renewable Energy Agency, the Philippines has an installed hydropower capacity of about 3,785 MW and a pumped hydro capacity of about 736 MW by the end of 2021. The government aims to increase the share of renewables in the electricity mix from 21% in 2020 to 35% in 2030 and 50% in 2040. Renewable energy currently accounts for 29.1% of the country's total installed capacity.Editor/XingWentao