Enfinity unit adding 100 MW solar capacity

By Danessa O. Rivera (The Philippine Star) | Updated August 24, 2015 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - The local unit of Belgium-based solar developer Enfinity N.V. is planning to put up additional 100 megawatts (MW) in three of its planned seven solar power plants in the country, but the expansion of these projects will not be pursued under the feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme.

Enfinity Philippines Renewable Sour-ces Inc. has secured seven sites for solar projects, four of which are being constructed, its president Dennis C. Ibarra said in an interview.

The four solar plants are located in Concepcion, Tarlac; Clark, Pampanga; in San Roque, Digos, Davao; and in Cavite. These four plants are scheduled for completion by year-end with a total capacity of 100 MW.

Ibarra, however, declined to disclose the locations of the three other plants.

“Of the seven, we will have several sites with 100-MW. One of them, we want it to be in Concepcion. The other two, I cannot divulge yet but we have the land already,” he added.

For the Concepcion solar project in particular, Enfinity Philippines is now securing land for the expansion of the plant, which is targeted to be completed by end-2016.

“Our goal is to finalize those leases in the October, November time frame and to finish the next phase by the end of next year, but maybe it will be a March 2017 commissioning,” Ibarra said.

When asked on the cost of expansion, Ibarra said it will depend on the price of solar panels, as well as the local costs.

For the expansion of solar plants, the company will not rely on FIT, the official said. Instead, the additional capacity of these plants may be traded on the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) or will be contracted under bilateral agreements.

WESM is the country’s trading floor for electricity.

“We’re not going to depend on FIT in the future. We want to provide more power, and if we’re competitive, that’s great,” Ibarra said.

Under the FIT, eligible renewable energy (RE) developers will be given a set of incentives for their RE projects.

For solar developments, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) adopted the new P8.69 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) FIT rate for 500-MW allocation for this technology.

Ibarra said the company will not avail of the FIT in the next phases because it has already established the supply chain with just the first four projects.

“We already have the supply chain. Six weeks ago, we announced the first four sites, then there’s going to be two or three more. When you’re bringing in four, then seven sites, you already have economies of scale,” Ibarra said. source