South Cleanergy Inc., a subsidiary of Aboitiz Renewables Inc., plans to put up a 239.56-megawatt direct current (171.11 MWac) solar farm with a 306-megawatt-hour battery energy storage system on a 180-hectare land in Barangay Luna, Cadiz City, Negros Occidental.
South Cleanergy said in documents submitted to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources the greenfield solar farm costing P13.846 billion would supply power to the local grid throughout the year.
The company said the project would help augment the demand for reliable and affordable power supply and reliability and resiliency of the grid, especially in the Visayas.
It cited a report by the transmission operator National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), which estimated that in January 2024 that the Visayas would have 2,350.2 MW of available generating capacity with a system peak of 2,158 MW, or an operating margin of 192.2 MW in the morning.
It said that prior to a predicted decline of 177.79 MW in the evening, Visayas’ power generation capacity was recorded at 2,316.1 MW in the afternoon compared to a system peak of 2,242 MW, or a 74.1-MW operating margin.
South Cleanergy said the expected capacity from committed power projects would not be able to ease the power situation due to their delayed commissioning and commercial operation.
It said the proposed power plant would supply enough electricity to Filipino households and businesses in the region.
The proposed project will also support the Department of Energy’s advocacy to shift to cleaner source of energy to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector, it said.
The DOE envisions that about 15 percent of the total power requirement would be supplied by solar power by 2040.
South Cleanergy said the proposed project would need about 1,000 workers (skilled and non-skilled) during the peak of construction phase and an average of 200 workers during the normal days. The project will employ 50 workers during operations.
Construction is targeted to start by the first quarter of 2026, while the target commercial operation is in the fourth quarter of 2027.
The indicative cost for the proposed project is around P13.846 billion, which will be spent on detailed engineering studies and designs, including the feasibility study (FS) and acquisition of necessary government permits and licenses; site preparation, equipment and materials procurement, environmental management and protection, air pollution devices and wastewater treatment facilities; among others.
