Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corporation (SPNEC), a newly listed company, has commenced mobilizing for construction last week on what is expected to be Southeast Asia’s largest solar project. The operations are led by the parent company Solar Philippines’ in-house engineering, construction and procurement team.
SPNEC is utilizing a portion of the money from its P2.7-billion initial public offering (IPO) to construct the first 50-MW stage of its solar project, as well as the interconnection facilities for the whole 500-MW project, and to acquire land for future expansion.
The first 50 MW is foreseen to start yielding power to the grid by the end of 2022, clearing the path for SPNEC to gain profitability and carry through the balance of the 500 MW capacity project by 2023. It will be built on land that SPNEC has been developing since 2016.
The firm aims to install solar panels for the next 175 MW in six months and be ready to install solar panels for the remaining 500 MW in over a year once the first 50 MW begins sending power to the grid.
The project, which will be located in Pearanda, a fourth-class municipality in Nueva Ecija, is estimated to generate over 5,000 employment during construction and over 500 jobs while operating.
Given the predicted scope of projects in this area in the future years, the business is sponsoring in educating locals in solar panel installation.
SPNEC previously declared that it will use the remainder of its IPO funds to build a 1,000-hectare expansion for a joint venture with the country’s biggest businesses to accelerate the shift to renewable energy.
The co-location of the initial 500 MW and the 1,000-hectare extension in the same region, according to SPNEC, would facilitate the development of additional transmission lines and render economies of scale to solar in the Philippines. The two projects together are larger than any comparable plants in the Philippines till now.
The project is in reaction to the country’s need for constructing more than 20,000 MW of solar power to keep up with the Department of Energy’s decision to raise the renewable portfolio standard objective to 35% of the country’s energy supplies from renewables by 2030.
