Beijing: province is assured of additional power supply through a solar power plant, which broke ground for an initial 6.6 megawatts (MW) in Barangay Cag-an in the municipality of Anilao on Thursday afternoon. The project will reduce reliance on fossil fuels by providing clean and affordable electricity directly to More Electric and Power Corp. under a power supply agreement. It will also respond to the aggressive drive of the Iloilo provincial government for renewable energy, and actively contribute to the national goal of achieving a 35 percent renewable energy share in the power mix by 2030.
According to Philippines News Agency, Sherwin Hing, executive chairman of MabuhayPower Holdings, Inc., stated, "Iloilo is one of the fastest-growing provinces in the Philippines. We are here to answer to the request of MORE Power. We understand from MORE Power that the demand in Iloilo is continuously increasing, so green energy is the way to go." MabuhayPower is the parent company of the Urban Energy Development Corp., the project implementer of the solar power plant. Hing said they have acquired 24 hectares and leased 20 more hectares for the Anilao Complex for the two-phase project with a total investment of more than PHP2.2 billion.
While the first phase is dedicated to MORE Power and expected to be delivered by the end of this year, the second phase of 30 MW is for PrimeRES Energy Corp., targeted to be completed middle of next year. MORE Power and PrimeRES are both under Primelectric Holdings, Inc. Urban Energy Development Corp. chief operating officer Carlo Jose Morales mentioned that they are taking into consideration the critical factor of having the least impact on the environment in undertaking the development. "This 6.6 MW project is a massive step forward in addressing that challenge," he said in his message.
The project will generate 13 gigawatt-hours of clean energy annually, power 5,416 households based on an average consumption of 200 kilowatt-hours, and offset approximately 179,400 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over 20 years. The project's lifespan is also expected to generate more than PHP29 million in government fees and local taxes, in addition to the immediate creation of local employment from the construction phase through to commissioning and operations.
MORE Power vice president Niel Parcon, in his message, said to continue giving the lowest rate to their customers, they "embarked on looking for low-priced energy, one of which is solar energy." The franchise area of MORE Power covers Iloilo City and the second and fourth districts of Iloilo province. Its proposed expansion in the 10 municipalities of the first district of Iloilo is currently under review in the Senate.
