CATARMAN, Northern Samar — The country’s first tidal power plant, and also a pioneer in the region, will soon be built in Northern Samar to provide electricity to the island municipality of Capul.

The private firm Energies Ph Inc., through its affiliate San Bernardino Ocean Power Corp., announced that it has awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction contract for a one-megawatt tidal power plant to UK-based Inyanga Marine Energy Group.

Energies PH is a local company that specializes in implementing breakthrough technologies utilizing clean and renewable energy to support the country’s transition to sustainable, reliable and affordable energy.

The project will harness the strong ocean currents of San Bernardino Strait, which straddles Capul and mainland Northern Samar, into tidal energy that will energize the off-grid municipality.

Tidal energy is harnessed using a turbine that is pushed up against a generator by the underwater current. The turbine is connected to a gearbox that turns a generator, creating and storing electricity.

Energies PH said the tidal energy power plant is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia and also the first among similar projects that the company plans to establish in several off-grid communities across the country to ensure that far-flung communities have access to electricity.

Historic place

Capul, which was in the central trading route of the historic Manila-Acapulco galleon trade during the 1600s, gets energy from a 750-kilowatt diesel power plant that runs 16 hours a day. The island is a fifth-class municipality with a population of 12,323 based on the 2020 census.

Once completed, the power plant would be able to generate electricity 24/7 at a cheaper price than that generated by the diesel power plant.

Inyanga chief executive officer Richard Parkinson assured that a tidal stream as an energy source is one of the reliable forms of renewable energy and with its HydroWing technology, it would provide a cost-efficient solution to using the capacity of ocean tides to provide energy.

Governor Edwin Ongchuan welcomed this latest development, saying this will not only help the province generate alternative and sustainable energy but also open up livelihood and investment opportunities.

Energies PH’s tidal energy power plant is the third renewable energy plant to be established in Northern Samar.

At present, the San Isidro On-Shore Wind project, undertaken by Aboitiz Renewables Inc. and Vena Energy, has commenced groundwork. The other one, the North Samar Offshore Wind Power Project by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, is in the pre-development phase, having commenced ground investigations last January.