San Carlos Energy to start operations of 1st solar plant

MANILA, Philippines - San Carlos Solar Energy Inc. (SaCaSol) is set to start commercial operations of the country’s first utility scale 22-megawatt solar power plant in Negros Occidental, a timely move given the country’s critical power situation, company officials yesterday said.

SaCaSol is a renewable energy joint venture between Bronzeoak Philippines Inc. and the ThomasLloyd Group.

In a briefing yesterday, Bronzeoak Philippines project manager Anabele Natividad said the company will officially inaugurate the first phase of the plant (13 MW) on May 15 in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.

“We will start commercial operations in May,” she said.

In a separate statement, SaCaSol president Jose Maria Zabaleta Jr. said since the company began construction of the plant last August, work has moved at a significantly efficient pace.

“We are incredibly excited to complete and open this solar plant, which will add great value to the country’s current renewable energy objectives,” Zabaleta said.

The P1.9-billion solar plant is being funded by ThomasLloyd, an European asset management firm.

Natividad said the commitment of its foreign partner has paved the way for the completion of the project.

“It’s what makes the ball rolling,” she said.

Bronzeoak communications manager Carlos Villa-Abrille Jr. said the company hopes to complete the second phase of the plant, also with a capacity of 13 MW, by June.

The project is one of seven renewable energy facilities that the partners are working to build on Negros, along with four solar plant sites and three biomass plant sites.

Michael Sieg, chairman and chief executive officer of ThomasLloyd, said the company would continue to invest in the Philippines.

“We have steadily built our commitment to investing in the Philippines. We are very happy and excited about the coming completion of our first plant and happy with the progress of our other construction sites. These will continue to create economic growth and prosperity especially for rural communities,” Sieg said.

In January, the Board of Investments (BOI) approved the project under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.

According to the company, the plant is expected to provide approximately 31.6 million kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity annually to the Visayas grid, which is currently suffering from power outages and low voltage problems.

Proponents are aiming to make SaCaSol the first to energize under the government’s feed-in-tariff (FIT) system a set of incentives for renewable energy.