SPNEC takes over Terra Solar for P6 billion

MANILA, Philippines — SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC) has taken over a local company that is set to build the world’s largest solar project.

In a stock exchange filing, SPNEC said it has acquired 100-percent of the shares of Prime Infrastructure Inc. in Terra Solar Philippines Inc. (TSPI) for P6 billion.

Together with the shares it acquired in TSPI from Solar Philippines, SPNEC is now the owner of 100 percent of TSPI following a deed of absolute sale executed with Prime Infra.

TSPI is a 50-50 joint venture between SPNEC parent Solar Philippines and Prime Infra that was established in 2020.

The company is developing a 3.5-gigawatt (GW) solar and four-gigawatt-hour battery storage project, which is regarded as the world’s largest solar project.

The solar project, once completed, will be larger than India’s Bhadla solar park and China’s Golmud solar park, currently the world’s largest solar farms at over 2.2 GW.

It will likewise eclipse the capacity of all grid-connected solar projects operating in the Philippines combined at over 1.5 GW according to the Department of Energy’s latest figures.

SPNEC earlier said that over 3,000 hectares of land have been secured for its projects, most of which have already been converted to industrial use.

“This will be one of the largest solar projects not just in Asia, but in the world. The Department of Energy’s vision is to have about 35 percent of the country’s energy come from renewable energy, and this is one of Meralco’s major contributions to this goal,” Meralco chairman and CEO of Manuel V. Pangilinan previously said.

The estimated total investment for the project has been estimated to be “around P200 billion.”

“It’s a big project. It has attracted a lot of interest from foreign investors because it’s big. It’s transformative for the Philippines,” Pangilinan said.

Last October, Meralco announced that MGen Renewable Energy Inc. (MGreen), the renewable energy development arm of MGen, would invest P15.9 billion in SPNEC by subscribing to 15.7 billion common shares and 19.4 billion redeemable preferred voting shares of the publicly listed company that is currently majority-owned by Solar Philippines.

Upon closure of the transaction, MGreen’s common and preferred voting shares would make it the controlling shareholder of SPNEC with a total voting interest of 50.5 percent.

MGreen has made an initial payment of P7 billion to SPNEC, with the balance of P8.89 billion to be paid on the closing date upon fulfillment of certain conditions, including the increase in SPNEC’s authorized capital stock and the amendment of its articles of incorporation.

MGreen’s P15.9 billion investment in SPNEC will fund the construction and expansion of the latter’s solar projects.