State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is extending up to Php2.6 billion funding facility to Kiangan Mini Hydro Corporation (KMHC) for the development of the Asin-Hungduan and Ibulao1 Mini Hydropower Projects (the “Kiangan Project”) located in Kiangan, Ifugao, a top official said.
“DBP’s credit support to the Kiangan Project demonstrates our commitment to help the country accelerate the use of renewable energy resources and our confidence to KMHC as project developer in consolidating the development of a portfolio of three river systems into two power projects,” DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel G. Herbosa said.
The Kiangan Project is a portfolio of small-scale run-of-river hydropower projects that will harness the water from the Asin, Hungduan and Ibulao River systems to convert it into clean, renewable electricity. It is expected to supply 17.5 MW of renewable power supply to the Luzon grid to help meet the target of 30% renewable energy share in the country’s energy mix by 2030.
The project is being developed by KMHC, a consortium composed of Alternergy Mini Hydro Holdings Corporation, a pioneering renewable energy company led by former energy secretary Vicente S. Pérez Jr.; Renova Renewables, a leading renewable energy developer in Japan; and Sta. Clara International Corporation, a full-service engineering, construction, development company.
DBP is the sixth largest bank in the country in terms of assets and provides credit support to four strategic sectors of the economy – infrastructure and logistics; micro, small and medium enterprises; the environment; and social services and community development.
Herbosa said DBP is excited to partner with Alternergy for the Kiangan Project which is backed by technical support from its Japanese partner and from one of the top-rated construction firms in the country.
He said the Kiangan project, which is located within the ancestral domains of the Tuwali Indigenous Cultural Communities, is expected to create employment opportunities for the locals to improve welfare and livelihood of the surrounding communities.
“The ongoing construction of the Kiangan Project has engaged members of the indigenous community and provided assistance to the residents under the project’s corporate social responsibility program,” Herbosa said. (DBP)
