RE firm eyes solar projects in Visayas, Mindanao

Renewable energy resource developer Solarus Partners Inc. is planning to put up facilities in the Visayas and Mindanao worth $100 million.

Solarus managing director Tetchi C. Capellan said the company would undertake the projects this year to generate a combined capacity of 50 megawatts (MW).

The projects in the Visayas will be concentrated on the islands of Panay and Negros. Also, the company is working on a 12 MW solar power project in South Cotabato, while another 12 MW facility in Cabacan, Davao City is in the pipeline.

“We are focusing on solar projects and there are a lot in the pipeline,” Capellan said. “There are about four electric cooperatives in the Visayas that we are in talks with.”

She did not name the power distributors.

According to Capellan, each of the projects will have a capacity of “at least 1 MW.”

Solarus Partners is a Philippine firm engaged in solar power projects. The company has partnered with the Bank of the Philippine Islands for a 2.5-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system in one of the bank’s branches in Makati City.

The company is also conducting a study on the possible installation of similar solar systems in the bank’s branches in Boracay and El Nido.

The solar power firm is now applying for tax incentives and other perks from the Board of Investments under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.