Prime Infrastructure set to build world’s biggest solar farm

MANILA, Philippines — The renewables unit of Prime Infrastructure Holdings Inc. of tycoon Enrique Razon is building the world’s largest solar farm and storage project that will provide Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) its needed mid-merit renewable supply and boost the clean energy capacity in the country.

In a statement yesterday, Prime Infrastructure said it is putting up a solar power facility with a capacity of 2,500-to-3,500-megawatt (MW) combined with 4,000 to 4,500-megawatt-hour (MWh) of battery energy storage system (BESS).

The project will be undertaken by Terra Solar Philippines, a unit of Terra Renewables Holdings Inc., a subsidiary controlled by Prime Infra and in partnership with Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings Inc.

From this power facility, Terra Solar will supply 850-MW to Meralco, of which 600-MW will be available by 2026, while the additional 250-MW will be delivered in 2027.

“We, at Prime Infra, are delighted to move forward with Meralco on this record-breaking project that highlights solar power’s important contribution to strengthening the country’s energy security -- solar, which is normally looked at for peaking, is now being made available by Terra Solar to answer Meralco’s mid-merit requirement, thereby addressing both the need for additional capacity and compliance with RPS,” Prime Infra president and CEO Guillaume Lucci said.

He said the Department of Energy (DOE) and Meralco should be commended for approving “a project that is not only transformational for the renewable energy landscape, but also for managing to do so at a competitive price.”

Moreover, Meralco will be able to increase its renewable energy sourcing as mandated by the DOE’s Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS).

Under the RPS, companies are required to source a minimum percentage of their energy portfolio from renewable energy sources.

“Prime Infra finds a sweet spot to pursue solar as we take advantage of the steep decline in installation costs over the past decade and the improved battery energy storage system technology that allows us to build an economically critical and socially relevant infrastructure at a scale the world has never seen before,” Lucci said.