P4.15-B Pangasinan solar plant gets BOI perks

MANILA, Philippines — The Board of Investments has approved the application of Pilipinas Newton Energy Corp.’s (PNEC) P4.15 billion solar plant project in Pangasinan.

With the approval of its application as a developer of solar energy sources, PNEC is qualified for incentives under the Special Laws List of the Investment Priorities Plan (IPP).

The solar project will rise on a 70-hectare property located in in San Manuel, Pangasinan. It will use fixed photovoltaics (PV) modules for the generation of electricity with a peak capacity of up to 68.7 megawatts.

“The site in Barangays San Bonifacio and San Roque in San Manuel was selected since the land was classified as agricultural land with no irrigation and majority of the land is considered as grassland by the municipality of San Manuel under the municipality’s comprehensive land use plan,” the BOI said.

All power to be generated from the plant will be sold to distribution utilities and/or National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) through a power supply agreement and/or wholesale electricity spot market.

“The demand for power will continue to increase due to the ongoing industrialization in the country as it fuels the infrastructure expansion and the growth of the manufacturing industry,” said Trade Undersecretary and BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo.

“At the same time, we are already transitioning towards using more renewable energy in response to climate change as part of our National Renewable Energy Program (NREP),” Rodolfo added.

Based on data from the Department of Energy (DOE), renewable energy plants (geothermal, hydro, wind, biomass and solar) account for the biggest share of the country’s total installed power capacity at 34.3 percent as of the end of 2016.

The Philippines has already awarded 166 solar projects with a potential capacity of 4,081 MW of which 903 MW were installed in 2016.

In addition, the DOE approved 755 renewable projects with a potential capacity of 16,949 MW, of which projects totaling 4,522 MW were installed last year.

The NREP aims to accelerate the exploration and development of renewable energy resources to achieve energy self-reliance.

It seeks to increase the RE-based capacity of the country to an estimated 15,304 MW by the year 2030, almost triple its 2010 level.

The DOE earlier said it plans to add 20,000 MW of RE capacities by 2040 as the country continues to step up its efforts in promoting the deployment of indigenous renewable energy.