PetroEnergy to start Tarlac-2 solar project

By Jordeene Sheex Lagare – July 28, 2018
from The Manila Times

YUCHENGO group-led PetroEnergy Resources Corp. (PERC) is targeting to begin building the second phase of its Tarlac solar power project this year, company officials said.

PetroEnergy will undertake the construction of the 20-megawatt (MW) Tarlac-2 solar facility through its unit PetroSolar Corp., according to Francisco Delfin Jr., vice president of PetroSolar.

Delfin told reporters on Thursday that Tarlac-2, the expansion of its existing 50-MW Tarlac solar power project, is close to being started “because we’re already evaluating some EPC [engineering, procurement, and construction] contractors and we have applied for BOI [Board of Investments] registration.”

He said the declaration of commerciality “shall be made soon.”

The Tarlac-2 solar plant is one of the three projects that PetroEnergy is working on for expansion, said Maria Victoria Olivar, assistant vice president for technical affairs.

Olivar said the company is also working on the second phase of its Nabas wind farm in Aklan with a capacity of 14MW.

Republic Act 11038, or the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System (E-NIPAS) Act of 2018, which President Rodrigo Duterte signed last month, has given a lift to the Nabas-1 wind project, Olivar noted.

“We have already started geotechnical studies for Nabas-2 to optimize the possible EPC cost,” Delfin said.

PetroEnergy said it has earmarked P6.7 billion for its four-year capital expenditure (capex) program for its expansion projects, including the 12-MW Maibarara-2 geothermal power plant in Sto. Tomas, Batangas.

The total project cost of the Maibarara-2 geothermal facility, which was approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in April this year, is about P1.9 billion, PetroEnergy Assistant Vice President for Finance Carlota Viray said.

PetroSolar Corp. is a 56-percent owned subsidiary of PetroEnergy Corp. while PetroWind Energy Inc. is a joint venture among PetroGreen (40 percent), CapAsia Wind Holdings Cooperatief U.A. (40 percent), and EEI Corp. (20 percent).

PetroGreen is the renewable energy holding unit of publicly-listed PetroEnergy Resources Corp. (PERC).

Founded in 1994, PetroEnergy is engaged in the business of upstream oil exploration and development. Since then, it has diversified into RE and power generation.
Shares of PetroEnergy closed up P0.05 at P4.17 each.