Philippines moves closer to building world’s largest solar project

Solar Philippines has submitted offers to contract most of its planned 10 gigawatts of projects, including the world’s largest, as the Southeast Asian nation seeks to meet rising demand for electricity while shifting away from coal.

If the offers are approved by offtakers and regulators, the company would potentially have 9 terrawatt-hours a year of contracted energy, enabling it to start most of the targeted capacity in 2025 and 2026, Solar Philippines said in a regulatory statement.

The planned facilities “would help address the country’s potential power shortage” and significantly boost the nation’s grid-connected solar capacity of 1,127 megawatts at end-2022, Solar Philippines President Leandro Leviste said in the statement.

The Philippines gets about 57 percent of its electricity from coal, burning the equivalent of 29 million tonnes of high quality fuel.

Solar Philippines is building 3.5 gigawatts of solar and 4.5 gigawatts-hours of battery storage with billionaire Enrique Razon, which it said will be the world’s largest solar project and would be twice the country’s existing solar capacity.

Another unit is developing a 500-megawatt solar farm in Nueva Ecijia province in the north, and also has ventures with other parties including an Ayala Corp.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES