Solar Philippines Nueva To Build 4GW Solar Plant

Solar Philippines Nueva plans to expand its 500 MW system currently under construction on the northern Filipino island of Luzon with a 3.5 GW solar farm. Solar Philippines Nueva is the listed subsidiary of PV project developer, Solar Philippines, which is the largest solar energy provider in the Philippines.

With the money raised through various capital raising, Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corporation (SPNEC) intends to purchase an additional 2,500 hectares for this massive PV cluster in the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Bulacan.

These included an asset-for-share exchange with parent firm Solar Philippines as well as a previously disclosed stock rights offering (SRO) and private placements with institutional investors to generate at least PHP10 billion (US$195 million).

The proposed project, with a total capacity of 4GW, would be larger than the Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan, India, which has a capacity of more than 2,245MW and is currently the largest solar project in the world.

Since 2016, Solar Philippines has been trying to get land and licenses, which has allowed it to plan a project of this size. The grouping of projects would also enable the corporation to take advantage of the transmission network that is already being built for the initial 500 MW plant and that will extend 60 kilometers to the Greater Manila Area, one of the biggest metropolises in the world.

Solar Philippines filed offers in June of this year to contract the output of 10GW of PV plants that are now under construction, potentially representing 9TWh of contracted power that would begin operations mostly in 2025 and 2026. However, the business stated in a release today that it aimed to complete 8GW of solar and battery projects during this time.

In related news, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has taken steps to negotiate reduced costs for 200 MW of baseload supply from a 1,800 MW solar project with 1,800 MWh of battery storage, which is currently under development, commencing in 2024.

An earlier unsolicited offer for this 200MW had been made by Solar Philippines Batangas Baseload Corporation (SPBBC), a division of Solar Philippines, at a rate of PHP4.65/kWh (US$0.083/kWh) at a 100% plant capacity factor, with a comparable Levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for a 20-year term.

Challengers are now being encouraged to make cheaper offers by Meralco. Expressions of interest must be sent by August 31 if you are interested.

The company is also inviting objections to Ahunan Power’s plans to offer 500MW of renewable energy. Enrique Razon’s Prime Metro Power and JBD Water Power have partnered to form Ahunan.