CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY- A citizen’s initiative seeking to restore Renewal Energy to its rightful place is taking off in Mindanao.
“Our comprehensive requirements—meticulously structured under the mandates of the DOE and PSALM—were submitted on September 22nd. This is not merely compliance; it is the establishment of a foundational, future-proof energy platform that sets the new standard for the nation,” said Engr. Cerael C. Donggay, who is leading the Greenergy & Partners coalition that aims to democratize ownership of the Agus-Pulangi Hydroelectric Complex (APHC) in Mindanao, and make Renewable Energy (RE) an influential player in the Mindanao Grid that would eventually lower electricity rates in the region which are currently the highest in the country.
The 1,000 MW Agus Pulangi Hydro Plant Complexes (APHPC) is composed of 260 MW Agus 1 and 2 hydro plants in Lanao del Sur, the 213-MW Agus 4 and 5 in Lanao del Norte, the 272-MW Agus 6 and 7 in Iligan City, and the 255-MW Pulangi 4 hydro plant in Maramag, Bukidnon.
The group has submitted its feasibility studies to the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center which for its Energy Storage Project (ESP) which proposes to purchase and rehabilitate the APHPC over the next seven years.
Former Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said in February that once a private player comes in and rehabilitates the complex, an additional 400 MW of hydropower would be provided to Mindanao.
Greenergy-PSALM signing of Non-Disclosure Agreement on May 21, 2025 (G&P)
Donggay debunked the reported P16.71 billion estimate of the Department of Finance for the rehabilitation of the APHPC to restore and modernize it by 2028 to extend its operational life and increase the capacity of the APHC’s aging hydropower plants, thereby enhancing the reliability of clean energy in the region and accelerating Mindanao’s transition to renewable energy sources.
As the former Vice President for Mindanao of National Power Corporation which operated the APHPC for over three decades, Donggay stressed it is impossible to restore and modernize the APHPC within that budget and timeline and this would only result in cosmetic band-aid solutions which would further deteriorate the complex and make it easier to acquire by profit-oriented generation companies at the expense of Mindanao’s consumers who would be paying for everything with even higher electricity rates.
“The entrenched players’ relentless drive to maximize profits by forcing the priority dispatch of dirty, volatile-priced coal fired power plants at the expense of Clean, Cheap, and Nationally-Owned Hydro Energy is an explicit act of energy-sector sabotage,” Donggay points out. “We urge the DOE and PSALM to uphold the integrity of the national grid and the public trust by instituting a transparent merit-order dispatch that decisively favors clean and cheaper hydropower as baseload, rendering the high-cost, high-emission, and globally-disfavored coal-dumping strategy financially and environmentally non-viable.”
Democratizing ownership of APHC
Psalm president and CEO Dennis Edward dela Serna previously said the government would explore a potential concession agreement with the private sector to push for the restoration of the complex.
As early as January this year, Greenergy and Partners already met with DOE and PSALM in Manila to present its Energy Storage Project (ESP), thereby gaining public recognition as the Original Proponent (OP) on ESP involving rehabilitation, operations & maintenance of APHPC with the September 22, 2025 submission of all the required documents. Once negotiations between PSALM and the Original Proponent are concluded, the OP is then considered the Original Proponent Status (OPS), subject it to a Swiss Challenge where other interested bidders are invited to submit competing proposals.
“Of all Big Power Players, why has the government chose to deal with GREENERGY and PARTNERS? The answer is simple: The government is investing in the future, not subsidizing the past. The envy of our competitors is the direct measure of our superior adherence to the national energy blueprint,” Donggay noted.
PSALM-Greenergy & Partners negotiations on APHC Rehab January 20, 2025 (G&P)
He further stressed, “Our proposal has zeroed in on 7th Sustainable Development Goal on Affordable & Clean Energy, which affordability of electricity leads to Industry Innovations & Infrastructure (9th SDG), that can draw more manufacturing industries, generate more Decent Works and Economic Growth (8th SDG), while clean energy mitigates the impact of global warming, Climate Action (13th SDG) paves the way to managing weather extremes, therefore guaranteed agriculture that may lead to Zero Hunger (2nd SDG) and No Poverty (1st SDG).
Greenergy and Partners proposes mass-ownership of the acquired APHPC once its ESP proposal is approved so the benefits of its operations will be spread to the most number of Mindanao constituents and industries, which would further encourage investments and uplift the island’s economy primarily brought about by lower electricity rates as the APHPC is ramped up to its 1,000MW potential and restore the previous regime of low electric rates that brought unprecedented prosperity to Mindanao in the previous decades.
Zero Complacency
Donggay explained Greenergy & Partners operate with the foresight that today’s optimal plan is tomorrow’s liability if not stress-tested.
“We are not just executing; we are continuously optimizing against volatility. Our planning framework explicitly models and mitigates high-impact, low-probability risks—from global supply chain disruptions to extreme weather events—to ensure uninterrupted energy delivery, unlike the inherently fragile legacy systems of our competitors,” he explained.
He noted how competing proposals are fundamentally anachronistic because they fail to integrate the core directive of Sustainable Development Goal 7: Affordable & Clean Energy. “We didn’t just mention SDG 7; we built our entire economic model around it. Our Hydro-centric, dispatch-priority proposal is not only a “green initiative” — it is the only economically rational, policy-aligned, and socially responsible pathway forward. This is the irrefutable evidence of why Greenergy is the preferred partner.”
