The Global Business Power Corporation (GBPC) is developing a pumped storage hydroelectric power plant in the Visayas with an initial capacity of 100 MW that it plans to use as backup power to the grid operator. The company is currently proposing the same to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and is in the development stage for the project. The company plans to connect the plant to the 230 kV transmission line being developed by NGCP to serve the Cebu-Negros-Panay area. The project will be completed by 2022. The NGCP has requested merchant plants or independent power producers (IPPs) to participate in the provision of ancillary services or transmission reserve capacity that is needed to maintain power quality, reliability and the security of the grid. The plant will be GBPC’s first venture into renewable energy, which it expects to account for at least 10 per cent of its total capacity. GBPC is targeting to reach a capacity of 1,500 to 2,000 MW in five years, a goal that is around double its current 854 MW capacity.
