PhP 3.6 Billion Solar Energy Project Breaks Ground in Tarlac

A PhP 3.6-billion utility-scale solar farm venture will soon rise in Barangay Sta. Rosa, Concepcion, Tarlac. This is courtesy of the local subsidiary of Belgium-based solar energy developer Enfinity N.V., Enfinity Philippines Renewable Sources, Inc.

The planned solar project had its groundbreaking on August 17, 2015 in a 54.795-hectare land in the province of Tarlac. The ceremonies were graced by Enfinity Philippines President Dennis Ibarra and Concepcion Mayor Andres Lacson.

Initially, the company is expected to hire about 400 to 600 construction workers and another 150 workers when it starts operations within the first quarter of 2016. Ibarra noted that the project has a total investment cost of PhP 3.6 billion for 157 panels, with P750 million allotted to pay the lease to 30 land owners of the site, formerly a sugarcane farm. He added that the solar panels will be installed within five months after the groundbreaking rites to allow the company to meet its March 2016 deadline to avail of incentives under the feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme which is available for companies developing Renewable Energy projects.

According to Enfinity Philippines, the solar facility will have a 50.55 megawatt-peak (MWp) rated capacity and its output will be fed to the grid via the Sta Rosa, Concepcion substation of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

The solar farm is only one of the two projects in Central Luzon that Enfinity aims to accomplish in 2015, with the other one to be located in Clark, Pampanga.