by Miriam G. Desacada
Tacloban City–The Philippines is set to be the first country in Southeast Asia to have a tidal power generation plant, which is now being developed and soon to be completed in late 2025 at one of the islands of Northern Samar, the island of Capul.
Project proponent Energies Ph Inc. (EPHI) revealed that tidal power is another energy power development in Northern Samar, in addition to the wind and solar energies currently being developed in the province, under the initiative of Governor Edwin Ongchuan.
The island of Capul is an area along the San Bernardino Strait, which is known for strong ocean currents, thus a viable source of tidal energy—a more reliable, sustainable, and cost-competitive alternative to power generation.
EPHI’s affiliate San Bernardino Ocean Power Corp (SBOPC) partnered with Inyanga Marine Energy Group of UK to develop the first tidal power generation plant in Southeast Asia in the Philippines with a one-megawatt capacity.
The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract was awarded by EPHI to SBOPC and Inyanga for the planned power facility, which will be equipped with Inyanga’s famed HydroWing tidal stream turbines. Tidal energy, a renewable source, is produced by the surge of ocean waters during the rise and fall of tides.
The tidal power generating site, which is scheduled to be completed in 2025, will feed the electrical network of Capul, said EPHI, adding that the off-grid island “currently relies only on a 750-kW diesel power plant, having only eight to 16 hours of electricity supply per day and suffering regular blackouts.”
In 2022, an EPHI research showed that Capul experienced a peak electricity demand of 427 kW, while its power supply relies on a dependable capacity of 480 kW generated by four diesel generators operated by the National Power Corporation Small Power Utilities Group (NPC-SPUG). This has made Capul face some challenges, such as power outages that occurred 35 times in a month (July to August 2019), totaling 33 outage hours.
“As we embark on this pioneering tidal power plant for the Philippines, our vision is to replicate this in several off-grid sites all over the country to provide electricity in the hinterlands,” said EPHI co-chairman and CEO Antonio Ver.
“We see the initial project in Capul as a catapult to achieving our goal of helping create sustainable communities across the Philippines. The electric power that reaches families in remote areas enables them to have better access to education, health services as well as livelihood opportunities,” he added.
Inyanga Marine’s HydroWing tidal stream technology which will be connected to the network of Capul, and in the first stage of the project to a microgrid network with solar and energy storages, which are incidentally being under development also, under the development plans of the Northern Samar provincial government also.
Other planned tidal power generation plants are in San Antonio Island, adjacent to Capul, in Northern Samar, and at Calintaan Island in nearby Matnog, Sorsogon.
The UK-based Inyanga, known for projects involving the global offshore renewable industry, has two divisions: tidal energy technology development HydroWing and offshore engineering and installation Inyanga Maritime.
Inyanga’s commercial manager, Jean Christophe Allo, said that they will use HydroWing tidal stream technology to generate tidal power, which can continuously supply power 24/7. The design is to connect the tidal stream turbines to the electrical network of Capul.
Inyanga CEO Richard Parkinson described tidal stream energy as the most predictable and reliable form of renewable energy, and its HydroWing technology is at the cutting edge of innovation and provides a cost-effective solution to harvesting the power of the ocean’s tides.
HydroWing is Inyanga’s largest tidal stream development project in Wales, England.
Governor Edwin Ongchuan welcomed this latest development, which will not only help the province generate alternative and sustainable energy but will also open up livelihood and investment opportunities for Nortehanons.
On March 12, Ongchuan met with EPHI executives—proponents of the Ocean Power Project (OPP) in Capul, to discuss the Northern Samar’s Tidal Power Project, which is now gaining momentum after the visit to the island by an international assessment team.
During the meeting, EPHI President, Antonio Ver disclosed that the Department of Energy recently confirmed the commercial viability of this initiative on July 14, 2020, highlighting its integration of solar and tidal energy sources into a comprehensive energy plan.
With this, EPHI remains steadfast in its goal to enhance its infrastructure with a target installation capacity of 1 MW. Governor Ongchuan’s leadership has helped the project fast track its progress, endorsing the new green lane of the province. This move has pleased the EPHI executives, as it addressed a major challenge they had faced since the beginning of the project.
Furthermore, due to the quick actions of the PGNS, foreign experts along with the EPHI are scheduled to visit Capul island for a progress assessment from March 18-22, this year.
The meeting between Governor Ongchuan and EPHI was attended by executives from both parties, along with representatives from the Provincial Government of Northern Samar and the Board of Investments. This gathering showcased the commitment of all parties involved to make Northern Samar a model for renewable energy innovation in Asia. —-Miriam G. Desacada