The 600-megawatt (MW) Wawa pumped storage hydroelectric power plant (PSHPP) project of Olympia Violago Water and Power Inc. (OVWPI) will be ready in the first quarter of 2030.
‘Before the due date, the due date is 2030. We hope to finish earlier than that.
Hopefully, sometime, no later, in the first quarter of 2030. We are trying to be pragmatic about these things.
There’s a lot of work to be done. Our goal is very simple: to deliver on our promise. We are doing well so far,’ Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. President Guillaume Lucci said during a site visit at the pumped storage facility over the weekend.
OVWPI is a subsidiary of Razon-led Prime Infra. The $2.57-billion PSHPP project in Rizal province is currently 18 percent complete. The construction includes dams, an upper reservoir, an underground powerhouse, tunnel water conveyance systems, and a switchyard.
Essentially, the project integrates with the Upper Wawa Dam to provide 6,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of daily energy storage capacity, intended to supply mid-merit and peak power to the Luzon grid, reduce reliance on fossil-fuel generation, and improve grid flexibility.
‘The bulk water is completed and has been operating for a while. The pumped storage is about 17 (percent) to 18 percent completed,’ said Lucci. ‘The pumped storage facility started construction about a year and a half ago. We have another three and a half years to go.’
Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Sharon Garin, who joined the site visit, said the PSHPP project is ‘ambitious, impressive, and high-tech.’
A high-tech pumped storage plant acts as a giant water battery for the electrical grid. It uses two water pools at different heights. When power is cheap, it pumps water up. When power is needed, it lets water fall through smart turbines to make electricity
‘This is one of the most impressive projects that we’ve seen, because it’s not just about power. The efficiency of the civil works is quite impressive. It’s a feat of engineering, actually,’ said Garin. ‘Only one year and a half into construction and yet so much has been accomplished for a project this big, especially on time, or even earlier than due date.’
Prime Infra noted that pumped storage hydro absorbs energy at times of low demand and releases it when demand is high. It stands as a significant player in the energy landscape by enabling the continued dispatch of variable renewable energy as it stores excess capacity when there’s an oversupply and dispatching the same when the supply goes back down.
‘Whenever you need more power, you can call on the pumped storage to bring it. So, it’s like a battery, you can store the excess and bring it in when it is needed. It complements the renewable energy,’ added the energy chief.
This project is part of Prime Infra’s 2-gigawatt (GW) PSHPP portfolio. Another subsidiary, Ahunan Power Inc., is currently constructing the 1,400-MW Pakil PSHPP in Laguna.
The projects, which are both certified Energy Projects of National Significance, support the government’s target to increase the share of renewable energy in the Philippines’ generation mix to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.
Prime Infra secured last March two financing agreements amounting to P273.47 billion, featuring P214.87-billion project loan and a P58.6-billion letter of credit facility, to finance the Pakil and Wawa PSHPP projects.