Solar Phl gets OPS for 200-MW capacity offer to Meralco
Solar Philippines has secured the original proponent status (OPS) for its proposal to supply Meralco with up to 200 megawatts (MW) of baseload capacity for 20 years.
With the OPS, Solar Philippines’ offer will be subject to competitive challenge, with the company having the right to match any comparative proposal.
Solar Philippines subsidiary Solar Philippines Batangas Baseload Corp. (SPBBC) has proposed to supply Meralco with up to 200 MW of baseload from 1,800 MW of solar and 1,800 megawatt-hours (MWh) of battery storage that the company is developing in Nasugbu, Tuy, and Balayan, Batangas.
The project will be the world’s first gigawatt-scale solar-battery baseload project, according to Solar Philippines.
The company said that compared to other solar-battery projects that would operate for 12 hours a day, including others being developed by the company, the project would operate on a 24-hour basis, and replace the need for a 200-MW coal power plant.
At a fixed price of P4.65 per kilowatthour (kWh) for 20 years, inclusive of value-added tax and other charges, SPBBC’s supply is estimated to be 20 to 40 percent cheaper than the cost of fossil fueled generation in the Philippines.
“We are grateful for this opportunity to show that solar with batteries can deliver cost-competitive baseload power. We thank Meralco for leading the market in the adoption of renewable energy, and look forward to realizing this project for the benefit of consumers,” Solar Philippines founder Leandro Leviste said.
Solar Philippines said SPBBC’s proposal is intended to supply reliable power in all weather conditions, with a plant designed to produce enough electricity even during cloudy days, and with excess during sunny days able to be sold into the wholesale electricity spot market.
SPBBC may also source backup power from a portfolio of other plants to ensure maximum availability of supply, it said.
Solar Philippines started developing the project in Western Batangas in 2016, in light of the company’s other project developments and land in the area.
The proposed site is near the Calatagan 63 MW solar farm of the company, which became the largest solar farm in Luzon when it began operations in 2016.
The project will complete the nine terawatt-hours (TWh) per year of contracted energy, which would serve as a critical mass of demand for the company’s 10 gigawatts (GW) of developments, along with over six GW of other projects that it has contracted through Meralco competitive selection processes and Department of Energy auctions.