MPTC eyes solar power for toll plazas

METRO Pacific Tollways Corp. is considering using solar power installations for some of its facilities, including solar rooftops or canopies on its toll plazas, as part of efforts to support and promote renewable energy (R.E.).

Rodrigo E. Franco, president and CEO of MPTC, said this on the sidelines of the Financial Executives of the Philippines (Finex) forum on solar energy. Franco is the chair of the environment committee of Finex.

“We are still in the design stage. We want our toll plazas to have solar power. This is most applicable in areas outside the Meralco franchise since power rates are higher in non-Meralco areas,” Franco said.

Besides toll plazas, MPTC may also use solar power installations along the toll roads for lights and emergency call boxes.

A study is being conducted on how best to use solar power, but there is no timeline and no budget so far, he said.

“That (timeline and budget) will be one of the recommendations of the study,” Franco said.

MPTC forms part of the Panglinan-led conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. It is the holding firm for Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) and Cavitex Infrastructure Corp., which are engaged in developing, designing, constructing, financing, operating and managing toll road projects.

MNTC operates and maintains the 90-kilometer North Luzon Expressway or NLEx, the 8.8-km Subic Freeport Expressway, and the 94-km Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway or SCTEx, while Cavitex operates the 14-km Manila Cavite Toll Expressway.