REPOWER Energy Development Corp. (REDC) is set to build and develop its seawater pump storage hydropower plant in Real, Quezon province, the renewable energy developer said on Monday.

This comes after the company has secured a hydropower service contract from the Energy department, the listed energy company said in a statement to the stock exchange.

“The development of a seawater pumped storage hydropower facility in Real, Quezon shall be the first of its kind in the Philippines, thus allowing the company to be a pioneering force in this particular area of clean energy,” said Eric Peter Y. Roxas, president and chief executive officer of REDC.

REDC will build a seawater pumped storage hydropower with a capacity of 320 megawatts (MW) in Quezon, while the Austria-based Gugler Water Turbines GMBH will develop the seawater pump storage generation facilities.

To recall, REDC signed a memorandum of agreement with Gugler in 2023 to bring seawater pumped storage technology into the country.

The project, which will be the first of its kind in the Philippines, will be constructed around 300 meters above sea level utilizing the coastline for continuous water supply intake.

REDC is planning to expand its installed energy capacity by one gigawatt in the next five years, with its portfolio mainly focusing on hydropower projects.

The company is a run-of-river hydropower developer, a subsidiary of Pure Energy Holdings, has 124 MW of mini-hydropower projects in Laguna, Quezon, Camarines Sur, Bukidnon, and other provinces under development.

The company is currently constructing a 4.5-MW hydropower plant in Quezon and a 20-MW plant in Bukidnon. The two facilities are anticipated to start operations by 2025. — Ashley Erika O. Jose