PH solar energy firm on track to supply power needs of roughly 10M Filipinos
MANILA, Philippines — A local solar energy company said Thursday that it is on course to provide “the power demand of approximately 10 million Filipinos” as its projects in the provinces of Batangas, Cavite, Nueva Ecija, and Tarlac were being implemented on target.
It said its construction of required facilities through 2021 would bring at least one gigawatt (GW) worth of solar power.
And by 2022, the company said it expects to have the largest single portfolio of solar energy projects in the Southeast Asian region.
“Based on data from the Department of Energy (DOE), these projects of Solar Philippines would comprise the first, second, and third-largest solar projects in the country,” Solar Philippines said.
“These projects will nearly double the country’s total installed solar capacity as of 2020, and are equivalent to the power demand of approximately 10 million Filipinos,” it added.
Even if “COVID-19 slowed approval of permits in 2020,” Solar Philippines said it sees “a renewable energy-led economic recovery in 2021, spurred by DOE’s moratorium on new coal plants in the Philippines.”
“The 1 GW of solar projects are planned to create over 20,000 jobs during construction, which will last until 2022, and support government efforts to boost investments in the countryside,” it added.
However, Solar Philippines said it is bringing in new partners to help them boost their solar farms in Calatagan, Batangas, and Concepcion, Tarlac, which will be used to fuel expansion plans.
Solar Philippines founder and Chief Executive Officer Leandro Leviste, son of Antique Rep. Loren Legarda, predicted that these advancements would encourage other companies to join the solar energy bandwagon.
Leviste’s Solar Para sa Bayan, another solar energy initiative, was given a franchise to operate in August 2019 after President Rodrigo Duterte signed the bill ratified by Congress.
READ: Duterte OKs franchise of solar power firm owned by Loren Legarda’s son
However, several lawmakers opposed this move as they believe the law granted Solar Para Sa Bayan a “superfranchise” as it was allowed to be in charge of the generation, transfer, distribution, and supply — which supposedly violated equal protection clauses in the Constitution.
READ: Solon to ‘exhaust all legal remedies’ to block Solar Para sa Bayan’s operation
