Solar+BESS Project in Palau by Philippines’ Altenergy Headed Towards Completion

Philippines-based leading distributor of solar photovoltaic products and battery storage solutions Alternergy has shared that a solar PV and battery storage project in the Republic of Palau, is headed towards completion. The project will kickstart in April next year.

Alternergy has investments spanning across RE technologies- solar, wind, hydro. At the same time, it is also looking at the development of the offshore wind farm.

The said project is being undertaken through Altenergy’s subsidiary Solar Pacific Energy Corporation (SPEC). The solar hybrid project is for 15.3-megawatt peak solar photovoltaic and 12.9-megawatt-hour battery energy storage system in the Ngatpang state on Babeldaob, Palau’s largest island. The project will mark the subsidiary’s entry into the overseas market.

The ambitious project will help meet over 20 per cent of Palau’s yearly energy demands and will provide nearly 23,000 MWh of clean and renewable power.

“Our Palau hybrid project is also one of the biggest direct foreign investments in Palau with a project cost of $29 million and is generating local employment and tax revenues to the country,” said Solar Pacific CEO Mike Lichtenfeld.

A finance package worth $22 million was facilitated by Export Finance Australia through the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific program of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. With this, Palau’s goal to augment renewable energy share in energy mix to 45 percent by 2025 will be achieved.

“Our Palau Solar PV + Battery Storage Project is already 65 percent complete. We expect to commence commercial operations by April 2023,” said Vince Pérez, Alternergy and Solar Pacific’s Chairman, while adding, “Alternergy and Solar Pacific saw the opportunity to explore the electricity market outside the Philippines and we are honored to be the first independent power producer (IPP) in the Republic of Palau.”

Alternergy has its sights set on 1,370 megawatts of additional wind, offshore wind, solar and run-of-river hydro projects over the period of the next five years.

In March this year, Queensland firm CS Energy revealed that it was building a 2MW/4 MWh battery system meant to serve the 700 kW hydrogen electrolyser and fuel cell and the hydrogen produced in the facility was to be exported to Palau.