Blueleaf Energy taps 2 Chinese firms

MANILA, Philippines — Blueleaf Energy Philippines of the Macquarie Group is looking to onboard two Chinese energy firms to advance the development of its large-scale floating solar project in Laguna.

The company is negotiating engineering, procurement and construction contracts with Xian Electric Engineering and China Energy Engineering Group, according to senior project manager Pradeep Gopalakrishnan.

The deal involves the construction of the first phase of Blueleaf Energy’s 250-megawatt (MW) NKS Solar One in Caliraya and Lumot lakes in Laguna.

For the first phase, Blueleaf Energy intends to complete 132 MW of the total capacity.

“We are in talks with others, but we are almost finalizing (the deal) with these two here,” said Gopalakrishnan, banking on the expertise of both firms.

He noted that Xian Electric has had a strong presence in the Philippines for over a decade, while Energy China successfully completed a similar project in Singapore.

“Basically, if you have been to Singapore, they have done the same floating solar project on the drinking water reservoir. So we are using the same technology here,” he said.

A winner in the government’s second green energy auction program in 2023, the P15-billion NKS Solar One is a joint venture with NKS Energy Utilities Inc.

The construction is targeted to start as early as next month, while operations will commence sometime in the second quarter of 2026.

Apart from NKS Solar One, the company also intends to develop the 1,300-MW BlueSolar in Laguna Lake with partner Sun Asia Energy Inc.

Blueleaf Energy is spending P66 billion for BlueSolar, spanning the towns of Cabuyao, Santa Rosa, Calamba, Victoria and Bay.

Both projects are expected to provide additional capacity into the Luzon grid and contribute to the country’s energy transition journey.

Blueleaf Energy is a unit of Macquarie Group Ltd., a global financial services group operating in 34 markets.

The group specializes in asset management, retail and business banking, wealth management, leasing and asset financing, market access, commodity trading and renewables development, among others.