July 29, 2019 | 12:00 am
PETROENERGY
Resources Corp. is preparing to invest up to P1.3 billion to build a
utility-scale solar farm in Palawan that can provide 24-hour power to the
island’s electric cooperative with the help of stored energy.
“It’s a project of
PetroGreen [Energy Corp.],” Francisco G. Delfin, Jr., PetroEnergy
vice-president, said, referring to the subsidiary of the publicly listed
company.
“[It has] 10-20
megawatt (MW) of installed capacity — 10-20 MW of solar, then with the option
or the likely component of battery storage and diesel,” he added.
Mr. Delfin said the
ground-mounted solar photovoltaic energy source already has a term sheet and
was just awaiting the decision of the island’s power utility, Palawan Electric
Cooperative (Paleco).
“We have secured the
land. We already own the land. We have completed the technical feasibility
studies. We also have an agreement in principle on the financing option,” he
said.
He estimated the
investment for the project to be “a little over P1 billion, closer to P1.1 to
P1.3 [billion].”
Mr. Delfin said
PetroGreen holds the service contract for the solar farm issued by the Energy
department as early as 2017.
“We have already
secured many of the necessary government permits,” he said, enumerating these
to include the endorsements from local government units and environment
compliance certificates.
“The only thing holding
us back from proceeding is the off-take,” he said, referring to the buyer of
the energy produced by the solar farm. He said Palawan only has one buyer —
Paleco.
“I’m sure you are aware
of the problems that Paleco has encountered. I’m sure we’re not the only one
looking at the area,” he said.
In December, state-run
National Electrification Administration intervened in the management and
operation of Paleco to help resolve the power supply woes in the province.
In January, the
Department of Energy (DoE) stepped in by requiring the utility to submit an updated
power distribution development plan to determine whether the government should
continue looking after the provision of electricity in the area.
President Rodrigo R.
Duterte last year issued a warning to local officials to solve the energy
issues in the island. He gave Paleco until the end of 2018 to address the
frequent brownouts or he would install a new electricity provider for Palawan.
“The other track that
we are looking at is off-grid solar,” Mr. Delfin said.
He said the group wants
clarity the rules governing off-grid solar farms before it goes ahead with a
pilot project in the central Philippines.
“We are in the early
stages of a pilot study to determine the best markets and the best products for
off-grid rooftop solar,” he said, adding that the project will be under
PetroGreen.
“We want the rules to
be clarified first because there are so many draft rules by the DoE, by the ERC
(Energy Regulatory Commission),” he added. — Victor V. Saulon
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