SN Aboitiz pilot tests floating solar panels

MANILA, Philippines — SN Aboitiz Power Group (SNAP), the joint venture of SN Power of Norway and Aboitiz Power Corp., is exploring the development of floating solar panels in the dam reservoirs it manages initially with a 200-kilowatt (kw) plant in Magat, company officials said.

The company is currently testing a floating solar facility in its Magat reservoir located in Ramon, Isabela and Alfonso Lista, Ifugao, AboitizPower COO Emmanuel Rubio said in an interview with reporters late Wednesday.

“They’re on testing capacity. It’s not significant but we’re testing floating solar in Magat,” he said.

The pilot project would be focused on providing internal power supply to the Magat facilities, Rubio said.

The floating pilot project will have a capacity of 200 kw placed in a 2,500-square meter (sqm) area over the Magat reservoir, SNAP president and CEO Joseph Yu said in another interview.

He said the completion could happen “early next year.”

In going into floating solar, SNAP is not confining itself into hydropower but views itself as a renewable energy company, Yu said.

“We’d like to test it out to see if it will work. If it works, then it’s a viable ªproject). We’ve always viewed ourselves as a renewable energy company,” he said.

SNAP is also looking into providing an option to land-based solar farms by putting it on bodies of water.

“The big difference is we have the land acquisition for the land, plus the structures that are needed to support the panels then you match that up against the structure that makes it float plus whatever access fees you have to pay to put the panels on the water. You have to look at which one is more competitive,” Yu said.

“We feel floating has a place in the portfolio because we want to provide a solution for the country to not have to give up agricultural land and trade it for energy security,” he said.

For the pilot project, the company will be conducting stress test to make sure the floating solar project works especially if there is massive inflow of water or if it can survive through typhoons.

If viable, the floating solar will be expanded in other reservoirs the company manages.

“If it’s viable, we would like to scale it up,” Yu said. “Solar happens to be one of the technologies that is quickly built. We’d have to see how quickly it scales up, how it can work through the transmission lines, get RESCs (Renewable Energy Service Contracts) from the Department of Energy, sign respective agreements with LGU (local government units).”