World’s largest solar plant may get a sibling, says MVP
The upcoming largest solar power plant in the world, located in the Philippines, may soon have a sibling, according to billionaire Manuel V. Pangilinan.
The chair of SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC) confirmed to reporters last week they were looking at building a second Terra Solar plant in Batangas province.
“We’re talking to Lean,” Pangilinan said, referring to Solar Philippines president Leandro Leviste.
The 32-year-old businessman was previously the president and CEO of SPNEC before the MVP Group, through Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen), took over the solar power plant developer in December 2023.
According to Pangilinan, Leviste has an existing property in Batangas that can accommodate another solar power plant.
However, he clarified that “nothing has been finalized,” and that the new project would not be as large as the 3,500-megawatt (MW) Terra Solar facility being developed in an area straddling the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Bulacan.
MGen, the power generation arm of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), earlier said they were “slightly ahead of schedule” in the development of the bigger version, which has a P200-billion price tag, with progress rate already hitting 73 percent last November.
Online by 2027
The first phase will have a capacity of 2,500 MW and is slated for completion in 2026. The second phase, meanwhile, will have a capacity of 1,000 MW and will go online by 2027.
Last September, SPNEC said global investment firm Actis had injected P34 billion into the mammoth project. This is equivalent to a 40-percent stake in Terra Solar Philippines.
Pangilinan had said that Actis would be their “only partner” for Terra Solar, which is seen to power at least 2.4 million households in the country once dispatched.
SPNEC had confirmed last week a Bloomberg report saying it had planned to list MGen Renewable Energy Inc. (MGreen) on the local bourse.
According to SPNEC, its board of directors had approved plans to engage a pool of advisors and explore the possibility of a backdoor listing for MGreen, its renewable energy unit. The company has yet to disclose other details, including a timeline.
