Renewable energy developer Olympia Violago Water & Power has signed an agreement with the Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina) for the design, procurement and construction of the proposed 500 MW Wawa Pumped-Storage Hydropower Project in Rizal Province, the Philippines.

The Wawa PSP is being developed by San Lorenzo Ruiz Builders and Developers and Equis Energy . The expected total project cost is US$1 billion. The project will assist in grid management, while also providing cheap and reliable peaking power, significantly contributing to the Philippines government's push to triple renewable energy generation capacity by 2030. Construction is expected to start by the end of 2017, with commissioning planned for early 2022.

"The Wawa pump storage project is one of the Philippines' most strategically important power generation assets in terms of ensuring the immediate reduction of power prices,” says David Russell, chairman of Equis.

Equis is headquartered in Singapore, and is the largest renewable energy independent power producer in the Asia-Pacific region. As of the end of March it owned 97 renewable energy assets, totalling 44 GW across Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand. In addition to its current portfolio of 4.4 GW, Equis has a further 74 assets and 6.7 GW under development.

Since its founding in 2012, Equis Energy has on average commissioned a new asset every month. The power produced is sold under long-term offtake arrangements, with terms of up to 30 years.