NORWEGIAN-FILIPINO power company SN Aboitiz Power Group (SNAP) is targeting the operations of its 24-megawatt (MW) battery energy storage system (BESS) project before the end of the year.
“We’re just waiting for the COC (certificate of compliance). So, we expect our target,” SNAP President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph S. Yu told reporters on Monday. “Hopefully, the regulators will cooperate with us and have it ready for the reserve market for December 26.”
In September, the Department of Energy approved the commercial operations of the reserve market, which is targeted on Dec. 26, 2023.
The reserve market will facilitate the trading of ancillary services or power reserves needed to support the transmission system.
SNAP is a joint venture between Aboitiz Power Corp. and Norwegian company Scatec.
The company has invested about P1.2 billion for the BESS project, Mr. Yu said. The storage system is located at SNAP’s 388-MW Magat hydroelectric power plant, which is at the border of Isabela and Ifugao.
Only Magat Dam’s power components were privatized and won by SNAP in 2007. Its facilities downstream are owned and maintained by the National Irrigation Administration.
SNAP is also planning to build more BESS projects between Magat and Benguet, Mr. Yu said.
“We have three more projects, almost 100 MW more between Magat and Benguet that we hope to bring to a final investment decision in 2024,” he said.
He estimated an investment of around $800,000 to $1 million per megawatt for the additional BESS projects.
“But we’re looking for ways to optimize it and reduce the cost,” he said.
“We have a very good team working on it and I’m very optimistic that they should be able to come up with something interesting,” he added.
Last month, SNAP signed a memorandum of agreement with the National Power Corp. for the adoption of a 1,000-hectare watershed area within a 2.5-kilometer radius from the Ambuklao and Binga reservoirs.
The agreement covers fire protection, rehabilitation and restoration activities, agroforestry, and riverbank stabilization. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera