SNAP, NIA sign agreement on 8.5-MW Hydro Plant

5-MW hydroelectric power plant along the Maris Main (South) Canal in Ramon, Isabela.

The agreement was signed on October 20, 2015 at Mandaluyong by SNAP President and CEO Emmanuel Rubio (EVR) and NIA Administrator Engr. Florencio Padernal. NIA Deputy Administrator for Administration and Finance Estrella Icasiano, SNAP Chief Operating Officer Joseph Yu (JSY) and SNAP Chief Financial Officer Eleanor Blomdahl stood as witnesses.

Maris Main (South) Canal is located in Brgy. Ambatali and is under the operation and management of NIA. The plant will use the irrigation water released from the Maris Reservoir for the Maris Main (South) Diversion Canal.

 Construction is targeted to begin in late 2015 and completed by November 2017.

The agreement is the culmination of two years of planning and coordination with NIA by SNAP's Greenfield Development Arm (GDP) Maris team led by Senior Technical Manager Andy Ana and Legal Consultant Atty. Ani Macias. The plant is SNAP’s first project under GDP to reach this stage. It is a product of SNAP's innovation program as a proposal submitted by retired SNAP-Magat Operations Supervisor Romy Canadido and his team.

In his message during the signing event, EVR challenged SNAP to finish the construction earlier than the two-year target completion. “This is a project that we are proud of," he continued.

Engr. Padernal said that coordination and collaboration between SNAP and NIA play a big role in the country's development. In his closing remarks, JSY emphasized the importance of a good relationship between the parties involved. “Only by working together could we give shared value to the Filipinos,” he said.

This project contributes to one of the company’s strategic pillars, Growing the Business, and supports the renewable program of the government to ensure energy security.

The Maris reservoir began operating in the 1980s and has since regulated the flow of water used for irrigation. Other than providing additional power, the project will also improve irrigation facilities.

The project is covered by hydropower service contracts for MARIS Main Canal 1 awarded in 2013 by the Department of Energy (DOE) to another SNAP business unit, SN Aboitiz Power-Greenfield, Inc. In 2015, DOE granted the assignment of the contract from SNAP-Greenfield to SNAP-Magat.