SPNEC PLANS TO BREAK GROUND ON SOLAR EXPANSION PROJECT THIS YEAR

Solar Philippines New Energy Corp. (SPNEC) on Thursday announced its plan to start the construction of its Nueva Ecija solar expansion project, envisioned to become the world’s biggest solar farm.

Solar Philippines founder Leandro Leviste told reporters in Makati City that the groundbreaking for the solar farm project will take place within the year.

Asked for the exact date for the groundbreaking, Leviste said, "We have ongoing discussions on shareholding arrangements in certain of our projects to find solutions that will benefit all parties. Out of deference for these discussions and respect to our partners, we will not yet elaborate, other than to say that."

The Nueva Ecija expansion project comprises over 3,000 hectares being acquired in the same manner as the company's first Nueva Ecija solar farm, covering an area of over 350 hectares, which would bring the group's total land area to over 3,500 hectares.

Leviste said the Nueva Ecija expansion project, targeted to have a solar power generation capacity of 3,500 megawatts, will be funded through the proceeds of SPNEC’s capital raising activities, including Metro Pacific Investment Corp.’s (MPIC) initial investment of P2 billion.

The project will expand its 500-megawatt Nueva Ecija solar farm, which is currently under construction.

Leviste said the solar farm expansion project is targeted to be completed by 2026.

With a total planned four gigawatts (GW) of solar farm developments, the company's combined developments in Nueva Ecija are seen to surpass the capacity of India’s Bhadla Solar Farm, currently the world’s largest farm at over 2.2 GW, as well as surpass the capacity of the total grid-connected solar operating in the Philippines as of the end of 2022 at over 1.4 GW.

SPNEC, which listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange in December 2021, became the first pure-play solar company to make its public debut in the country. —VBL, GMA Integrated News

This article SPNEC plans to break ground on solar expansion project this year was originally published in GMA News Online.

2023-06-08T12:10:59Z dg43tfdfdgfd