Solar Philippines has been granted the OPS (original proponent status) to its proposal to supply Meralco up to 200 megawatts of baseload capacity over 20 years.
Solar Philippines will have to compete with other companies through the OPS. The company can match any comparable offer.
Solar Philippines Batangas Baseload Corp., a subsidiary of Solar Philippines has proposed to supply Meralco with up to 200 MW from 1,800 MW solar and 1,800-megawatt hours, of battery storage. The company is currently developing in Nasugbu, Batangas, Balayan, and Tuy.
According to Solar Philippines, the project will be the first gigawatt-scale global solar-battery baseload.
According to the company, this project will operate 24 hours a day and replace the 200-MW coal-powered power plant, as opposed to solar-battery projects which operate for 12-hour days.
SPBBC’s fixed price of P4.65/kWh for 20 years includes value-added taxes and other charges 20-40 per cent lower than that of fossil-fueled generation in the Philippines.
“We are grateful for this opportunity to show that solar with batteries can deliver cost-competitive baseload power. We thank Meralco for leading the market in the adoption of renewable energy and look forward to realizing this project for the benefit of consumers,” Solar Philippines founder Leandro Leviste said.
Solar Philippines stated that SPBBC’s proposal was intended to provide reliable power in all weather conditions. The plant is designed to produce enough electricity during cloudy days and excess electricity can be sold into wholesale electricity spot markets.
SPBBC could also source power backup from other plants in order to ensure the maximum supply of power, it said. Solar Philippines began developing the project in Western Batangas after other projects were completed in 2016.
The proposed location is located near Calatagan’s 63-MW solar farm, which was the largest in Luzon in 2016 when it opened.
The nine terawatt hours (TWh/year) of contracted energy will be completed by the project. This would provide critical mass demand for the company’s 10 gigawatts of development projects, as well as the six GW of other projects it has contracted through Meralco’s competitive selection process and Department of Energy auctions.
Solar Philippines was established in 2013 in order to promote the use of solar energy in the Philippines. SPBBC is among the companies that will be added to SPNEC’s portfolio after the approval of an asset-for-share swap.
