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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider The Stock Market devider Japan's Kansai gets stake in Prime Infra subsidiary behind hydro project

Japan's Kansai gets stake in Prime Infra subsidiary behind hydro project

Published Jul 30, 2026 08:42 am
The Wawa pumped storage hydropower project is a joint venture driven by Enrique Razon’s Prime Infra and Piki Lopez’s First Gen Corp.
The Wawa pumped storage hydropower project is a joint venture driven by Enrique Razon’s Prime Infra and Piki Lopez’s First Gen Corp.
Kansai Electric Power Co. agreed to acquire a 14 percent equity stake in the parent company behind the 600-megawatt energy storage facility in the Philippines, the Japanese utility’s maiden investment in an overseas pumped storage hydropower project.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, July 31, First Gen Corp. said that the Osaka-based power company signed definitive agreements to subscribe to shares in PMJVCo Holdings Inc., a unit of Philippine infrastructure developer Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc.
PMJVCo is the parent entity of Olympia Violago Water & Power Inc., the owner and developer of the Wawa pumped storage hydropower project in Rizal.
Following the transaction, First Gen said PMJVCo will remain 86 percent owned by Prime Hydropower Energy Inc., which is 33 percent held by its unit, FGEN Aqua Power Holdings Inc.
First Gen is one of the country’s largest independent power producers, operating a clean energy fleet that spans geothermal, hydroelectric, wind, and solar assets.
Through the deal, the Lopez-led firm said Kansai Electric will hold an effective 12.18 percent indirect interest in the underlying project company, Olympia Violago Water & Power.
The Wawa facility features variable-speed pumped storage technology capable of delivering up to 6,000 megawatt-hours of daily energy storage capacity.
The Department of Energy has certified the development as an Energy Project of National Significance, highlighting its role in balancing the national power grid and facilitating the integration of variable renewable energy sources.
Commercial operations are scheduled to begin in 2030.
The transaction pushes Kansai Electric’s total attributable capacity across its international power portfolio to approximately 2,500 megawatts.
Japanese utilities have increasingly sought capital deployment and operational opportunities across Southeast Asia to offset sluggish domestic electricity demand growth and export technical expertise in renewable power management.
Kansai Electric said the investment will allow the firm to apply its technical experience in grid operations while advancing decarbonization goals across regional markets.
Energy storage projects are becoming central to the Philippines’ efforts to stabilize its power architecture as the country expands solar and wind capacity to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels. (Gabriell Christel Galang)

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First Gen Corp. Japan Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc.
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