by Myrna Velasco, 18 August 2015
from Manila Bulletin
A P3.6-billion utility-scale solar farm venture will join the technology’s proliferation in the country – this time in Concepcion, Tarlac courtesy of the local subsidiary of Belgian project sponsor-firm Enfinity Philippines Renewable Sources Inc.
The planned solar project had its groundbreaking rites on Monday spearheaded by the officials of the host local government units (LGUs) together with the executives of Enfinity Philippines. That activity signals then that the project will soon be advancing to construction phase.
According to Enfinity Philippines, the solar facility will be of 50.55 megawat-peak (MWp) rated capacity and its output will be fed to the grid via the Sta Rosa, Concepcion substation of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
The Concepcion project is just one of the array of projects being pushed forward by Enfinity as it joins the 500MW race of the Department of Energy (DOE) which was prescribed with a commercial commissioning cut-off by March 15, 2016.
The others on Enfinity’s project blueprints are the: 23MWp propounded solar installation at the Clark Development Corporation’s domain; 28MWp in Digos, Davao del Sur; and the planned 3MWp (phase 1) development in Cavite.
Enfinity has noted that it is keeping an eye on the goal of “constructing solar projects in the country that will generate over 100MWp by early 2016.” In the next five years, it targets to ramp that up to 500MW capacity.
For the neighboring solar development at Clark, Enfinity has noted that it already “begun initial site work in May 2015 and is set to pour some P1.5 billion for the construction, operation and maintenance of the solar plant.”
The company leased a 25-heactare property within the jurisdiction of the Clark Development Corporation for the planned solar facility’s siting.
The “solar development race” is now an intense competition among interested parties, but who finally gets to the finish line is a question that even the energy department cannot answer at this point.
It is a big challenge then to all developers to step up to the plate when it comes to fast-tracking their project implementation timeframes.
PHILIPPINE POWER INSIGHTS 