Citicore Group inks 700-MW solar module supply deal

MANILA  -The Citicore Group will get 700 megawatts (MW) of solar modules for its upcoming solar plants in the country after signing a master services agreement with China-based photovoltaic (PV) equipment provider Trina Solar.

Under the agreement, Oliver Tan’s Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC), the clean energy unit of the Citicore Group, will purchase the solar modules that are scheduled to be delivered next year.

The company did not disclose its total investment for the agreement, but explained that these would help complete CREC’s 1-gigawatt (GW) project pipeline, as part of its goal to build 5 GW of clean energy capacity in the next five years.

The solar panels will likewise support CREC’s commitment to complete 11 solar projects under the national government’s Green Energy Auction Program.

CREC had committed to complete these by 2024 and 2026 in Luzon and Visayas. These ground-mounted solar projects have a combined capacity of at least 429.58 MW.

“The procurement of PV panels from Trina Solar is part of our efforts to secure high-quality and efficient technology for our project,” said Tan, president and CEO of CREC.

The modules will incorporate 210-millimeter solar cells and high-density encapsulation technology to maximize their surface area, according to Trina Solar.

The company also noted that the modules had undergone factory acceptance tests to assess, whether these met the highest industry standards.

This is Trina Solar’s second project with CREC, following the deployment of solar PV modules earlier this year for Citicore Group’s 125-megawatt-peak (MWp) Lumbangan and 72-MWp Luntal solar plants in the municipality of Tuy in Batangas province.

“The Philippines is a market with strong potential to harness solar energy for both consumer use and power production. We see enormous opportunities for deployment of solar to help the nation move toward a green net-zero future,” said Trina Solar Asia Pacific president Todd Li.

As of December 2022, data from the Department of Energy show that the Philippines’ solar power plants had a total installed capacity of 1,530 MW.