Singaporean firm eyes 250-MW Bataan solar park

Solar Origin 1 Corp., backed by a Singaporean renewable energy producer, is proposing to build a 250-megawatt solar park in Bataan.

Based on a document from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Solar Origan 1 is targeting a project that covers 280 hectares of land in the barangays of Bamban and Maite Hermosa.

If the government permits, the firm hopes to finish the facility within 12 months. Commercial operations are expected to extend for more than 25 years.

For this, Solar Origin 1 is ready to spend about P2.4 billion to cover land acquisition as well as development costs.

The group is looking to link the solar power plant to the grid operator’s 230-kilovolt Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Substation.

The firm said it wants to participate in the Philippines’ growing renewable market. This, amid continuous calls from the Marcos administration for the private sector to invest more in solar, hydropower, geothermal, wind and biomass technologies.

Solar Origin 1 is an affiliate of Enertans Global Pte. Ltd. It is a Singapore-based group engaged in the development and financing of large-scale renewable energy projects across Southeast Asia and Europe.

The firm also noted that the project could help meet Luzon’s rising power demand. The Philippines’ biggest island accounts for more than 70 percent of the country’s total demand as it continues to be the center of economic activities.

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“It supports the country’s efforts to accommodate increasing demand while diversifying the energy mix and reducing dependence on conventional fuel sources,” Solar Origin 1 said.

The Philippines targets to increase renewables’ contribution in the electricity generation mix to 35 percent by 2030. At present, its share is only at 25 percent.

The government has been conducting green power bidding to entice more players in developing renewable assets across the country.

Currently, the Department of Energy is preparing for the seventh round of the program, which will focus on solar technology.