Aboitiz to launch solar project

MANILA, Philippines — The Aboitiz Group is preparing to launch its floating solar project over the Magat Dam next year.

Aboitiz Power Corp. president and CEO Emmanuel Rubio said SN Aboitiz Power Group (SNAP), a joint venture with Scatec, is “ready to execute the project within the next six months.”

“We’re going to launch a feasibility in order to prepare for the tendering process,” he said.

Rubio was referring to the company’s plan to put up a commercial scale floating solar project with a capacity of at least 67 megawatts (MW) on the Magat reservoir.

“The existing project is just a pilot, 200 kw,” Rubio said.

SNAP invested over $400,000 or nearly P24 million for the 200-kilowatt (kw) pilot floating solar project placed over a 2,500-square meter area of the Magat reservoir. It partnered with Ocean Sun, a Norwegian floating solar technology provider, to install the facility.

The floating solar facility is made up of 720 solar panels on a circular installation held in place by four mooring systems.

Rubio said the pilot project proved that the technology SNAP used could handle Philippine-grade typhoons.

Because of the pilot project’s success, the SNAP board approved in December last year to proceed with the engineering design for the project.

SNAP then conducted a feasibility study – expected to last 10 to 12 months – to validate the initial results and confirm the viability of a commercial-scale project, SNAP president and CEO Joseph Yu said at that time.

Rubio said the company would focus on putting up more floating solar projects in the other water reservoirs where it operates.

“We already have an agreement with National Irrigation Administration (NIA) for us to be able to put floating solar,” he said.

SNAP owns and operates the 380-MW Magat hydropower project on the border of Isabela and Ifugao after the company acquired the power asset from the government in 2007.

Magat was the first privatization deal successfully concluded with significant foreign participation under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.

Only the power components of Magat were privatized; the dam and its re-regulating facilities downstream are owned and maintained by the National Irrigation Administration.

The company also owns and operates the 105-MW Ambuklao hydropower in Benguet, the 140-MW Binga hydropower also in Benguet, and the 8.5-MW Maris run-of-river hydro project in Isabela.