Dupinga Mini Hydro Power Plant awarded Certificate of Compliance from ERC

Dupinga Mini Hydro Corporation (DMHC) has secured the Certificate of Compliance (COC) from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for the 5 MW Dupinga Run-of-River (ROR) Power Plant, paving for the facility’s commercial operations. DMHC is a joint partnership between Alternergy Mini Hydro Holdings Corporation (AMHHC), Markham Resources Corporation (Markham) and Nueva Ecija II – Area 2 Electric Cooperative, Inc. (NEECO II – Area 2).

 “The complete COC license confirms our full compliance to the technical, operational and regulatory requirements and documentations by the ERC,” Gerry P. Magbanua, president of DMHC and Alternergy Holdings Corporation said.

As an embedded generation plant, the Dupinga ROR Plant will supply additional capacity to Nueva NEECO II – Area 2 under a 20-year bilateral power supply agreement.

“The timing of the start of its commercial operations could not be better. Amid an ongoing oil supply crisis, the Dupinga ROR Plant will deliver reliable and sustainable power at predictable price to NEECO II – Area 2. This is important given the increasingly volatile fossil fuel prices,” Dexter Teng, DMHC chairman and Markham president said. “The concern on energy security and availability has been highlighted by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The need to invest more on renewable energy resources that are indigenous and sustainable should be given priority,” he added.

For its part, NEECO II – Area 2 welcomes the additional supply. “The Dupinga ROR Plant will boost electricity supply in the Municipality of Gabaldon and other adjoining municipalities, which are considered the last mile of our franchise area. This will improve the quality and reliability of our power supply in these municipalities,” Reynaldo Villanueva, board president of NEECO II – Area 2. “We have long believed that electric cooperatives must take an active role in securing our own power supply, especially if there are inherent energy resources that can be harnessed within our franchise,” he explained.

The Dupinga ROR Plant took years to develop. “The Dupinga Project was a long time in the making. It navigated through the impacts of various challenges from permitting to indigenous peoples engagements to climate-related events, pandemic and geopolitics,” said Eduardo Martinez Miranda, president of AMHCC and director of DMHC. “We are also grateful for the full support of Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) as our sole project lender, as part of its mandate to spur rural development in nation-building.”

About 13,000 households in Nueva Ecija will be supplied with clean, renewable and sustainable power and 16,500 metric tonnes of avoided carbon emissions from the Dupinga ROR. The plant features a 3-kilometer concrete headrace and 1-km siphon system made of steel, tracing the natural contours of the mountain. It is an engineering solution to protect the environment, the communities and the facility itself.