Solar Philippines eyes more partnerships

MANILA, Philippines — Solar Philippines is eyeing to forge more partnerships to accelerate the development of solar projects, driven by the strengthened push for renewable energy in the country.

In a statement, the company said it is gearing toward a new strategic direction after the Department of Energy (DOE)’s declaration of a moratorium on new coal projects and call to accelerate the development of renewable energy,

As part of its new strategy, Solar Philippines said it is emphasizing the value of partnerships.

“While we once focused on competing with others in the power industry, we are now collaborating with several local and foreign partners, harnessing their strengths across all our projects to take solar in the Philippines to the next level,” Solar Philippines founder Leandro Leviste said.

Solar Philippines has been increasingly focused on forging partnerships in recent years.

In December 2018, it welcomed one of the world’s largest power companies, Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco), as a partner in its 63-megawatt (MW) solar farm in Batangas, Kepco’s first renewable energy project in Southeast Asia.

The company also inked a partnership with the Razon Group’s Prime Infra in June to develop a pipeline of projects, representing the largest solar joint venture established in the country.

This includes completing the 200-MW solar farm in Tarlac, the country’s largest solar project to date.

Apart from the push for partnerships, Solar Philippines is also starting a new company to focus on investments in provincial real estate, which will enable them to focus on developing projects that are symbiotic with the property.

Solar Philippines is also bringing onboard professional management to lead the company in this new chapter, as a step towards becoming a more widely-held public company.

“With these changes, we are more optimistic than ever that we and our partners can deliver a portfolio of projects that will make the Philippines a leader in the global energy transition,”Leviste said.

At present, Solar Philippines is developing projects with a total capacity of over 10 gigawatts in over a dozen provinces.