YUCHENGCO-LED BKS Green Energy Corp. has started constructing the 40-megawatt direct current (MWdc) Limbauan Solar Power Project in San Pablo, Isabela, expected to supply clean energy to approximately 33,000 households.
The P1.9-billion project will utilize 52,640 solar panels supplied by Chinese company Trina Solar Co., Ltd., the company said in a media release on Tuesday.
The solar farm will be developed in two phases: a 6-MWdc Phase 1, which will connect to the Isabela Electric Cooperative II system, and a 34-MWdc Phase 2, which will link to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines’ (NGCP) 69-kilovolt Tuguegarao-Cabagan line through a dedicated transmission facility.
Once completed by the end of this year, the facility is expected to generate up to 59 gigawatt-hours of clean energy annually, avoiding 31,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
BKS Green Energy is a subsidiary of Rizal Green Energy Corp., a joint venture between PetroGreen Energy Corp. (PGEC) and Japan’s Taisei Corp. PGEC is the renewable energy arm of publicly listed PetroEnergy Resources Corp.
“In addition to increasing energy supply, we anticipate employing around 500 to 600 workers at the peak of construction, partnering with our host LGUs (local government units) for our corporate social responsibility and environmental protection programs, and contributing to the overall economic and social progress of the Cagayan Valley region,” said Maria Victoria M. Oliver, PGEC vice-president for business development and commercial operations.
In November last year, the Department of Energy (DoE) certified the solar power project as an energy project of national significance due to its contribution to economic growth.
“The government needs more private investors, like PGEC and BKS, to invest in and develop renewable energy facilities because of our ever-growing demand for power,” said Marissa P. Cerezo, director of the DoE Renewable Energy Management Bureau. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
