SunAsia, partner earmark P400M for 4 solar power projects

SunAsia Energy Inc., in partnership with German solar firm Mp-tec GmbH and Co. KG, is spending about P400 million to put up solar power facilities in remote, off-grid areas in the country.

In a briefing on Tuesday night, SunAsia Energy chairman Noel Cariño said the company was embarking on four solar power projects that could generate up to a total of 22 megawatts for remote areas in Palawan, Aklan and Mindoro.

These projects will likely be financed partly by SunAsia’s foreign equity partners including Mp-tec and the Export-Import Bank of the United States, he said.

According to Cariño, the planned solar projects can be completed as early as next year. The electric cooperatives in the three target provinces are expected to be the buyers of the power to be generated by the proposed facilities.

SunAsia president Theresa Cruz-Capellan, meanwhile, noted that the company’s vision was to help provide adequate and affordable electricity supply in off-grid areas, which were being serviced by the Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) of state-run National Power Corp. (Napocor).

The electricity in these areas is generated mostly by diesel-fed plants, thus making power more expensive and vulnerable to global oil price volatility and supply disruptions.

SunAsia Energy is an independent solar power producer that makes use of German technology in rooftop installation and megawatt-size solar power plant construction and operations.

In an interview with reporters, Mp-tec founder and CEO Michael Preißel, who was in Manila for the launching of SunAsia Energy, said the German firm would be bringing its solar expertise to the Philippines.

Preißel noted that solar power is the right solution for the Philippines given the rising electricity requirements of about 100 million Filipinos and the high irradiation index of the country, which makes it suitable for solar power generation.

“Believing in the power of the sun, SunAsia Energy deploys state-of-the-art technology solutions in homes, business and industries, located in urban centers and geographically dispersed off-grid communities,” the company said.