Solar Philippines putting up transmission facility to connect to Luzon grid

MANILA, Philippines – Solar Philippines is seeking clearance from power regulators for the construction of a dedicated transmission facility necessary to link its 63.3-megawatt peak (MWp) solar farm in Batangas to the Luzon grid and receive incentives under the feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme.

The company has filed an application with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for “authority to develop, own, and operate dedicated point-to-point limited facilities to connect to the transmission system of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).”

The firm said the connecting transmission line is estimated to cost P36.76 million.

Solar Philippines is currently building a 63.3-MWp facility in Brgy. Biga, Calatagan, Batangas City. Originally intended to have a capacity of 44 MW, the project is targeted for completion this February.

The company said the construction of the transmission line, which will take four months, is a prerequisite for the testing and commissioning, as well as the commercial operations of the solar farm.

“Consistent with the projected date of energization of the power plant, the transmission line is targeted to be completed and commissioned no later than the third week of February 2016,” Solar Philippines said.

The project timeline was set in time for the March 15, 2016 deadline for solar developers to complete and produce power from their projects to be eligible to receive incentives under the FIT system.

Under the scheme, solar developers will get a FIT rate of P8.69 per kilowatt-hour (kwh) for 20 years, among others.

However, the ERC has set a jurisdictional hearing for the project on Feb. 11.

The Calatagan facility was originally part of the planned 250-MW solar projects of the joint venture between Solar Philippines and Citicore Power, a sister firm of Megawide Construction Corp.

Both parties teamed up in May 2015 but abandoned their partnership in December the same year.

Solar Philippines CEO Leandro Leviste said the company will still proceed building the Calatagan project.

Apart from the Batangas project, Solar Philippines is working on two more solar farms in Luzon and Mindanao, as well as several solar rooftops in malls.