MANILA — Ten towns of Nueva Ecija province now have electricity from renewable energy (RE) sources.
Electricity producer Aboitiz Power Corporation (AboitizPower) and the Nueva Ecija Electric Cooperative, Inc. II (NEECO II) are jointly delivering this to the towns of Talavera, Lupao, Carranglan, Aliaga, Quezon, Licab, Sto. Domingo, Muñoz, Guimba, and Talugtug.
“‘Cleanergy’ is now being delivered to NEECO,” Aboitiz Equity Ventures’ media relations officer Franz Dela Fuente told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Monday afternoon.
Cleanergy is AboitizPower’s brand for RE, with its several hydroelectric, geothermal, and solar power generation facilities in the country.
The MakBan Geothermal Power Plant will be supplying NEECO II with 33 megawatts of RE, Dela Fuente said.
Last May 29, NEECO II and AboitizPower signed a contract for a partnership. Under the contract, AboitizPower will deliver power to NEECO, which would distribute it to its customers.
Dela Fuente said the RE power would come from AboitizPower’s geothermal arm, the AP Renewables, Inc. (APRI).
AboitizPower and its partners produce more than 1,200 MW of RE from 30 power plants.
“As far as we know, this is NEECO’s first purely RE contract,” Dela Fuente noted.
Neeco, according to AboitizPower, had been using non-renewable energy sources since its establishment in 1975.
Reynaldo Villanueva, NEECO II- Area 1 board president, said NEECO had wanted to explore other energy options to maximize benefit for its customers, and at the same time, minimize the impact on the environment.
The 33 megawatts of RE from AboitizPower represents 80 percent of the peak demand of NEECO II’s service area, according to the firm.
NEECO II – Area 1 is the third electric cooperative in Luzon to use Cleanergy for its customers, the firm added. (Ma. Cristina Arayata/PNA)
