San Bernardino Ocean Power Corporation (SBOPC) has launched a request for proposals for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for its Capul Island Ocean Power Project.
The EPC tender, opened through SBOPC’s affiliate Energies PH (EPHI), paves the way for the start of the development phase of the Capul project, the first of its kind in the Philippines to utilize ocean technology.
The project aims to supply up to 1MW of renewable power using tidal instream energy conversion technology to Capul, an island in the province of Northern Samar located within the vicinity of San Bernardino Strait between the Luzon and Visayas island groups in the Philippines.
Since 2014, SBOPC has been conducting numerous studies to assess the ocean power resource in the area and the feasibility of supplying electricity to Capul Island.
In 2020, the Philippines Department of Energy confirmed the project’s viability by issuing its Certificate of Commerciality , a crucial milestone for Philippine renewable energy projects.
The Capul Project also marks EPHI’s foray into the microgrid sector, according to the companies.
Antonio Ver , EPHI’s co-chairman and CEO, said: “I wanted to tell you about the barriers of development, the disappointments and frustrations we faced, but I would rather speak of ‘mission accomplished’ as we embark on the project’s tender for the selection of an EPC company to lay down and deploy the first-ever tidal power in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia.”
SBOPC’s EPC tender marks the first time a Philippine company will utilize tidal instream energy conversion technology to generate electricity. This is monumental given the Philippines’s archipelagic geography with access to ocean currents as it provides a framework for supplying renewable energy using ocean technology to off-grid islands all over the country.
The interested parties have been encouraged to contact EPHI directly to receive more information about the request for proposals.