SPNEC to activate portion of 500-MW project in 2025

MANILA, Philippines — SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC) of tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan wants to switch on a portion of its 500-megawatt (MW) solar farm in Nueva Ecija as early as October next year.

SPNEC is currently developing the Santa Rosa Nueva Ecija 2 solar power (NE 2) project in two phases, the service contract for which was assigned by affiliate Solar Philippines Commercial Rooftop Projects Inc. in 2017.

The first phase of the project involves the construction of a 225-MW solar power plant in the municipality of Peñaranda in Nueva Ecija, with Phase 1A at 50 MW and Phase 1B at 175 MW.

In a regulatory filing yesterday, SPNEC said it expects Phase 1A to start commercial operations sometime in the fourth quarter of 2025.

However, this is still subject to the resolution on the right-of-way issues and the completion of the line connecting the power plant to the transmission grid.

“Phase 1A covering 50 MW of the NE 2 project has been installed but not yet operational due to delays in the construction of the connection asset due to right-of-way challenges,” SPNEC said.

As of end-2023, SPNEC had achieved a completion rate of 56.26 percent for the entire NE 2 project consisting of the solar plant and its connection assets such as transmission lines and substations.

“Pre-construction or development work for the remainder of the NE 2 project has progressed significantly. However, construction works have not yet started on account of grid constraints,” it said.

Transmission woes also prompted SPNEC to request the Department of Energy to terminate the service contract for a separate 280-MW solar project in Nueva Ecija earlier this year.

Despite the challenges, the company remains committed to fueling the government’s goal of expanding the share of renewables in the country’s energy mix to 35 percent by 2030 from the current 22 percent.