Ahunan Power Inc. (API), a subsidiary of Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. (Prime Infra) of billionaire Enrique Razon, has entered into a deal to acquire majority stake of 67 percent in Olympia Violago Water and Power Inc. (OVWPI), which is its business partner in the 500-megawatt Wawa pumped storage hydropower (PSH) venture.

According to Guillaume Lucci, president and CEO of Prime Infra, “the agreement will integrate Ahunan and OVWPI’s capabilities in support of Prime Infra’s energy business objective—to respond quickly to demand through clean and renewable power.”

There was no amount provided by the parties on the shares’ acquisition of Ahunan Power in the water firm led by businessman Oscar Violago.

The targeted power capacity generation of the Wawa dam project has been lodged for an ‘unsolicited tender’ for prospective power supply agreement (PSA) to satiate the mid-merit supply portfolio of power utility giant Manila Electric Company.

As cast on blueprint, the hydropower project construction is slated to kick off by next year. For the targeted PSA for the facility, Ahunan Power was granted ‘original proponent’ status by Meralco in June this year.

Prime Infra explained that “the PSH plants store and generate electricity by moving water between two reservoirs at different elevations,” adding that “water is pumped from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir during off-peak hours to store underutilized energy, then released from the upper reservoir to the lower reservoir to generate electricity in times of high demand.”

If the Razon group projects will be concretized, it was indicated that this equity hike deal with the Violago-led firm “increases the energy storage capacity of Prime Infra’s renewable energy portfolio by 6,000 megawatt-hours per day which is defined by a maximum continuous generation at 500MW for 12 hours.”

Lucci emphasized that “Ahunan’s hydropower projects are aligned with the government’s thrust to accelerate the development of renewable energy resources, and reduce heavy reliance on fossil fuels.”

Apart from its Wawa power generation venture, the Razon group’s other RE installations pipeline also include the 1,200MW PSH facility that will be sited in Pakil, Laguna; as well as solar farm developments in Tanauan, Batangas and Maragondon, Cavite.

In particular, the biggest solar farm installation cast by Prime Infra is the 2,500MW Terra Solar project which will be integrated with 4,500-megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage system (BESS), which is being lined up to supply 850MW mid-merit capacity to Meralco.

Razon’s foray into the energy sector is not just limited to the RE investment space; but it is also strategically positioning as the next operator of the country’s Malampaya gas field.