Regional alliance to bring ocean power to southern Philippines

Philippine-based Everhydro Corporation has entered into agreement with a Singapore start-up company OceanPixel to develop and implement ocean energy projects in Zamboanga Peninsula.

Cabinet members and the officials from various Philippine and Singaporean firms following the signing of the business agreements (Photo: Albert Alcain/Presidential Photo)

Through the agreement, Everhydro and OceanPixel have committed to the first project in the pipeline which is to build an offshore renewable power plant in Zamboanga with tidal instream energy as the main component, according to the Singaporean start-up.

The agreement sets forth the arrangements for collaboration and covers pre-development, procurement, and implementation.

The two companies have conducted initial site studies and identified potential areas with good tidal energy resource, OceanPixel said.

Both companies are soon to enter a separate collaboration agreement with Gigawave Corporation, a renewable energy project development company based in Zamboanga, which will secure the renewable energy service contracts for the identified sites.

The value of investments for the development phase of the project is about $500,000.

The agreement was inked as part of the signing of $185.7 million worth of investment agreements between Singaporean and Philippine companies that took place on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit on April 28, 2018.

Everhydro and OceanPixel believe that ocean energy will play a significant role in providing clean and reliable energy solution to island communities and in addressing energy poverty in many places in the Philippines.