JAPANESE firm Kansai Electric Power Co. Inc. has signed agreements to acquire a 14-percent stake in a subsidiary of Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. (Prime Infra) that owns and operates the 600-megawatt (MW) Wawa Pumped Storage Hydropower Project in Rizal.
In a statement on Thursday, First Gen Corp. said Kansai would subscribe to shares in Prime Infra unit PPMJVCo Holdings Inc., the parent firm of Olympia Violago Water & Power Inc. Olympia Violago is the owner and operator of the Wawa project.
Following the Japanese firm’s investment, PMJVCo will effectively be owned 86 percent by Prime Hydropower Energy Inc., which in turn is owned 33 percent by FGEN Aqua Power Holdings Inc. FGEN Aqua is a subsidiary of First Gen.
Kansai’s entry in the Wawa project marks its first pumped storage hydropower project investment outside Japan.
The Japanese firm’s participation in the Wawa project will bring its total attributable generation capacity in its overseas power business portfolio to approximately 2,500 MW.
The Wawa project is a variable-speed pumped storage plant certified by the Department of Energy as an energy project of national significance. It is designed to provide up to 6,000 MW per hour of daily energy storage to help stabilize the grid and support more renewable energy integration.
Commercial operation of the project is scheduled to start in 2030.
Shares of First Gen on Thursday dropped P0.51, or 2.52 percent, to close at P19.74 each.
