CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Six new solar farms will soon rise in Central Luzon to boost the region’s renewable energy supply.
Former senator Juan Miguel Zubiri bared this Saturday, as he hailed the Philippines’ completion of Southeast Asia’s biggest solar power generator -- the P10-billion, 132-megawatt (MW) solar farm in Barangay Tinampaan, Cadiz City, Negros Occidental.
Zubiri said that last month, the Department of Energy awarded a total of 26 new solar energy service contracts to private developers.
The solar farms will be located in Guagua, Pampanga; Palauig, Zambales; Hermosa, Bataan; San Jose and Pantabangan in Nueva Ecija; and San Idelfonso, Bulacan.
Based on the awarded service contracts, Zubiri added that new solar farms will also soon rise in Valenzuela City; Cordon and Sta. Maria in Isabela; Dasol, Pangasinan; Nasugbu and Rosario in Batangas; Calabanga, Camarines Sur; Bacolod City; La Carlota City, Murcia and Manapla in Negros Occidental; Mabinay, Negros Oriental; Naga City in Cebu; Jassaan, Misamis Oriental; and in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur.
He said the Renewal Energy Management Bureau has identified another 90 potential solar farm projects that when combined could produce another 2,545 megawatts of electricity. The Philippines already has Southeast Asia’s largest wind power generator -- the 150-MW wind farm in Burgos, Ilocos Norte.
“The thermal or electrical energy from sunlight is the cleanest and most plentiful renewable energy source readily available, so we should take full advantage of it,” Zubiri said.
Using panels designed to absorb the sun’s rays, solar farms convert sunlight directly into electricity, or use the sun’s heat energy to drive conventional power generators.
“With the completion of the Cadiz project, the Philippines now has nine solar power plants with an aggregate installed capacity of 314 megawatts,” Zubiri said.
The Cadiz solar facility will be formally launched on March 3 by Soleq, an Asian utility focused on becoming Southeast Asia’s largest independent solar power producer, according to Zubiri, who authored the Renewable Energy Law of 2008.
Soleq is supported by Equis Funds Group Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based private equity and venture capital firm reputed to be one of Asia’s largest energy and infrastructure investors.
Zubiri earlier said that more than 2.9 million jobs -- mostly in construction and engineering services -- have been created by the boom in solar, wind, geothermal, hydro and biomass power projects in the countryside.
Besides creating new jobs and other economic benefits, Zubiri said renewable energy produces little to zero carbon dioxide discharges, thus helping to improve air quality and public health.
He also said the vast and unlimited sources of renewable energy assure the country of a more dependable supply of electricity at stable prices in the years ahead.
The Renewable Energy Law authored by Zubiri has accelerated the development of the country’s “green” energy resources. The law aims to lessen national dependence on electricity generated by fossil fuel-fired power plants.
At present, the country is 63 percent dependent on coal, diesel and fuel oil for electricity.