A major hydroelectric plant in the Philippines is reportedly to install a battery energy storage system for backup power.
SN Aboitiz Power (Snap) plans to build the 20-megawatt BESS at the Magat Hydroelectric Power Plant on the island of Luzon, according to a report by the official Philippine News Agency.
“The facility will be used to boost Snap’s ancillary services and standby power supply that can be tapped in case the regular supply falls short of the requirement,” the agency quoted Snap group president and CEO Joseph Yu as saying.
Details of the battery chemistry to be deployed in the US$28 million project have yet to be specified.
Snap’s board has approved a project feasibility study to be carried out in 2019, with construction expected to follow in 2020 and the start of operations in Luzon— the country’s largest and most populous island— by 2022.
Snap is a joint venture between Norwegian renewable energy company SN Power AS, and Philippine power distribution company, Aboitiz Power.
Snap owns and operates Magat, which has a “nameplate power capacity of 360MW”.
Magat also owns and operates three other hydroelectric plants in the country.
