8 solar projects worth P86B get BOI perks

The Board of Investments (BOI) approved eight solar projects of Solar Philippines Commercial Rooftop Projects Inc. worth P85.96 billion, the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

These projects are qualified for incentives under the Investment Priorities Plan (IPP), which is a list of government-preferred business activities that would receive
nonfiscal and fiscal perks such as income tax holidays.

Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said the company was at the forefront of renewable and affordable energy production.

“By taking advantage of the tropical climate of the archipelago, Solar Philippines is not only producing energy through its solar farms but also producing its own solar panels as it aims to become one of the world’s largest solar panel manufacturers and exporters,” he said.

The most expensive of these investments is the Iba-Palauig 2 Solar Project in Palauig, Zambales. It is an P18.99-billion solar photovoltaic facility, which generates electricity from sunlight.

Commercial operation is scheduled to start in February 2020. It would have a capacity of 140.64 megawatt peak (MWp).

The company is also constructing a P13.56-billion solar farm in Tarlac with a capacity of 293.76 MWp. It will be called the Concepcion Tarlac 2 Solar Project.

Similarly, a P13.56-bilion solar facility with the same power capacity will be built in Batangas and will be called the Balayan Solar Power Project. Both Tarlac 2 and Balayan projects will start operations in January 2019 and February 2020, respectively.

In Cavite province, Solar Philippines is putting up two solar facilities: the P8.64-billion Maragondon-Naic 1 solar farm and the P8.64-billion Marangondon-Naic Tanza 2 solar project.

Each would have a capacity of 196 MWp. Both are slated to be operational by October this year.

The company will also put up an P8.6-billion solar facility in Nueva Ecijia. Called the Sta. Rosa Nueva Ecija 2 solar project, it will have a capacity of 193.536 MWp. Operations are expected to start in January 2020.

On top of this, the company said it would still be putting up two more solar facilities in Tarlac. Including the Concepcion Tarlac 2 Solar Project, the company will have a total of three additional projects in the province.

These two are the P7.08-billion Sta. Rosa-Concepcion project, which will start operations by January next year, and the P6.9-billion Tarlac-Lapaz farm with operations scheduled to begin in January 2020.

Electricity generated by these projects will be sold through the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) at competitive prices. Solar Philippines will tap 243 personnel to man all these facilities once in operation, BOI said.