Pioneering Filipino-led renewable energy firm Alternergy has secured P600-million credit facility from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to bankroll its 4.6-megawatt Dupinga mini- hydropower project in Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija.
The proposed hydropower facility will be implemented via corporate vehicle Dupinga Mini Hydro Corporation (DMHC), a subsidiary of Alternergy and founded by former Energy Secretary Vincent S. Perez. Alternergy is heavily into RE installations, primarily on the sphere of solar and wind farm developments.
The blueprinted Dupinga hydropower project is a co-development between Alternergy and Markham Resources Corporation, another Filipino-owned company by businessman Francisco Tiu Laurel of the Frabelle Group.
DMHC President and CEO Eduardo Martinez-Miranda emphasized that the DBP financing “speaks confidence in our Dupinga project and our commitment to harnessing renewable energy.”
DBP has Financing Utilities for Sustainable Energy Development (FUSED) program as part of the funding package aimed at enhancing energy access via the installation of utility-scale generation projects.
“We were one of the few energy projects that commenced construction at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic,” with him highlighting that the DBP loan “will provide strong support to the ongoing construction of the Dupinga project as we target completion by early 2024,” said Miranda.
Typically, hydropower projects have long gestation period with bulk of the pre-development work and activities are spent on securing voluminous scale of permits and clearances from various government agencies, host communities, and for civil works.
The hydropower service contract for the Dupinga project was awarded by the Department of Energy (DOE) in 2010, according to Alternergy.
Subsequently, the right to further develop the project as well as the utilization of a hydro resource for the facility was transferred to DMHC in 2017 – with warranted approval from the energy department.
Following that process, the sponsor-firm indicated that DMHC eventually “proceeded to conduct extensive technical studies, public consultations, and secured permits.”
For the protection of ancestral domains and to advance the development of indigenous peoples’ community within the project site, DMHC conveyed that it sealed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Katutubong Dumagat of Central Luzon and the Dupinga project’s “Kaagapay ng Komunidad” Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program – primarily on maintaining the Dupinga watershed, provision of local employment as well as aiding the host community in times of needs and emergencies.