PURE Energy Holdings Corp. (PEHC), a local investment company, would provide low-impact renewable energy and gravitational designed bulk water-supply plants in the country to mitigate water risks and meet the targets of the Philippines for sustainable development.
“We need to address today’s water problems by investing in renewables and engaging in studies for water use, especially at local and national levels,” said Dexter Y. Tiu, PEHC CEO.
Tiu said the country remains vulnerable to critical water shortage more especially with climate change, pollution, urbanization and population growth. The agricultural sector has felt the most damage with a series of dry spells, drought and grassfires around the country caused by El Niño.
“There are many facets to water management that we [private and public sectors] continue to discuss, but there is a lack of a cohesive and sustainable blueprint to overcome this looming threat,” Tiu added.
Through its subsidiary, Tubig Pilipinas, PEHC provides clean and sustainable potable water supply in major cities and towns in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. It has several water systems and projects in development in Trece Martires, Sual, Labrador, Cadiz, Bacolod, several in the One Negros Region and in Mindanao.
Tiu said run-of-river hydro-electric power plants, as an alternative to traditional dam facilities, ensures lesser impact on freshwater dependency, carbon-dioxide emission and aquatic ecosystem.
“In servicing potable water and clean energy in the Philippines, our technology does not destroy waterways nor disrupt the natural flow of water,” he said.
Through its renewable-energy subsidiary, Repower Energy Development Corp. (REDC), the company provides low-impact renewable energy from strategic acquisition and investment in existing and new hydropower plants, enhancing their capacity by adopting the latest European technologies.
The current projects of REDC represent over 100 megawatts (MW) of minihydropower projects with a capital cost of over $400 million. REDC has recently acquired three of the Philippines’s oldest operating plants.
“We will continue to search for more viable minihydropower projects and develop more water systems, aiming to be a leader in the renewable-energy industry and supporting the United Nations’s Sustainable Development Goal 6,” Tiu said.