Ilocos Norte voids deal with solar power firm

LAOAG CITY—Members of the provincial board of Ilocos Norte have nullified a lease agreement with the proponent of a multimillion-peso solar power project in Currimao town due to its financial and ownership problems.

They said they would open the project to other proponents so the 20-megawatt solar power plant can be built, either in Currimao or Paoay town.

Their action also stopped the cutting of more than 700 trees that had been allowed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The Feb. 2 resolution of the provincial board voided the lease agreement between the provincial government and Mirae Asia Energy Corp., a Korean-backed power firm which started the project in 2012.

Board Member Joel Garcia, chair of the provincial board’s committee on environment, said Mirae claimed it had enough funds to finance an initial $15 million needed for the proposed Currimao solar project.

It turned out that Mirae did not have enough capital, prompting it to sell its shares to Soleq Philippines Inc., a firm backed by the Equis Funds Group, a private equity group with interest on energy and infrastructure development in Asia.

Garcia said Soleq Philippines had expressed interest in pursuing the project but wanted Mirae Asia to be recognized as the entity transacting business with the provincial government.

Mirae’s lease agreement with the provincial government covers the development of a 60-hectare forest land covering Bimmanga and Paguludan-Salindeg villages in Currimao. The deal covers 25 years and renewable for another 25 years.

The solar project’s construction should have started in 2014 after Mirae secured a certificate of commerciality from the Department of Energy, including an engineering, procurement and construction contract.

The project, however, did not take off after it failed to get an endorsement from the provincial government.

The Inquirer tried to reach Lito Badua, Mirae vice president, for comment on the board’s decision, but he did not take phone calls or replied to text messages.

Gov. Imee Marcos said the cutting of trees for the project had remained a “problematic process” because most of the doomed trees are rare species of agoho growing near the shoreline. Agoho trees in Ilocos Norte are highly valued species as they take years to grow.

The DENR has issued cutting permits for 741 trees, a number lower than the 1,281 trees earlier proposed by the project proponent.

But Marcos said the number of trees that would be cut was still high because most are agoho. She said some residents had reported about a clearing operation in their area that cut about 50 tree saplings.

“We have yet to reach an agreement about forest land use. They should not rush things,” the governor said.