Hope for the new year

I’d like to carry with me a message of hope at the start of this new year 2025.

The Roman Catholic Church itself has declared 2025 as a Jubilee Year with the motto “Pilgrims of Hope” to “foster a sense of global sisterhood and brotherhood, solidarity with the poor, and caring for the environment.”

Our chairman, president and CEO at Metro Pacific Investments Corp. Manuel V. Pangilinan (MVP), himself a Papal awardee, recently sent out his New Year’s message expressing hope and optimism for this year, stating that 2025 is “another new year — with new hopes, fresh starts, and renewed optimism…”

MVP also said that this year he wished for a better Philippines “where people’s lives should be improved with more jobs created with more investments; where businesses can work together amongst themselves and with government in lifting the welfare of our people.”

He also emphasized the critical importance of collaboration between businesses and the government to uplift the nation. MVP highlighted the need to define and align economic priorities for the next four years. Clear articulation of these economic goals, he said, is essential for driving sustained growth and development.

MVP extended his best wishes to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos for the new year.

“I wish the President, and the First Lady all the very best — and bid them both Godspeed and God bless,” he said in closing.

At the start of last year, it was identified that the Philippines was facing an energy crisis with the expected depletion of the Malampaya natural gas fields which supplies 30 percent of Luzon energy consumption. Add to that the ever-increasing population and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the demand and it looks like the energy sector would be facing challenging times.

It was projected that about 52 gigawatts of additional power capacity will be required by 2045, and the country is clearly behind schedule in developing solutions.

Yet, there is hope as the Philippine government envisions the increase of its renewable energy (RE) share in supply mix to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2050, at the same time promoting energy efficiency and conservation, and pursue emerging technologies to achieve energy security.

A big part of this hope is the recent groundbreaking of what would become the world’s largest integrated solar and battery storage facility, a project that would make the Philippines a leader in renewable energy while contributing to efforts to address climate change and global warming.

No less than President Marcos led the groundbreaking of the Meralco Terra Solar Project in Nueva Ecija, which spans 3,500 hectares across the province all the way to Bulacan and will deliver 3,500 megawatts peak of solar power to the Luzon grid with 4,500 megawatt-hour battery energy storage once it becomes fully operational by 2027.

During the groundbreaking ceremony, President Marcos said that the Terra Solar Project was designed to address two critical challenges: the surging demand for electricity and the pressing need to shift to renewable and sustainable energy sources.

“By leveraging our abundant solar resources, the Terra Solar Project will help stabilize our power supply, reduce energy costs, and contribute significantly to our target of 35 percent renewable energy share in the power generation mix by the year 2030,” the President said. “We take a leap toward the future, driven by innovation and sustained by our collective hope for a cleaner and greener Philippines. This landmark project will put our country on the map as a leader in renewable energy.”

Terra Solar Philippines, Inc. is 100 percent owned by SP New Energy Corporation, which is in turn fully owned by MGen Renewable Energy Inc. (MGREEN), the renewable energy (RE) arm of Meralco Power Gen Corp. (MGEN), the power generation arm of the Manila Electric Corp. or Meralco.

MVP, Meralco chairman and CEO, said that, “Numbers alone fail to articulate the full significance of this project. We are making a statement today that the Philippines is not only keeping pace with the global energy transition but more so express our intention, the Philippines’ intention, to lead the migration from thermal to renewables,”

MVP also emphasized that “we will build, we will take action, and we will never stop daring. At the end, this is all showing the world what Filipinos can achieve when the public and private sectors work together with focus and urgency.”

The Terra Solar Project will deliver clean solar energy under a 20-year, 850 MW mid-merit power supply agreement to Meralco. The initial block of 600 MW is scheduled for delivery by February 2026, while the remaining 250 MW will follow in February 2027.

Before the groundbreaking ceremony, Terra Solar Philippines Inc., acting as the investment and development vehicle for the Terra Solar Project, entered into a strategic partnership with United Kingdom-based Actis for a 40 percent interest in the project valued at $600 million or about P34 billion. Terra Solar has also awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project with China Energy Engineering Corp. and has engaged Meralco Industrial Engineering Services Corp. to link the flagship solar development to the Luzon power grid.

“With an investment of over P200 billion, this demonstrates confidence in the stakeholders in our nation’s potential and our commitment to securing a stable, steady, reliable, and sustainable power supply,” PBBM further added in his speech. “The strong typhoons that we have been experiencing should further strengthen our resolve to find and facilitate solutions that will save our planet and the future of mankind.”

The President also said that the project is expected to generate nearly P23 billion in financial benefits over the next decade, create more than 10,000 jobs and open countless growth opportunities.

That alone, gives us enough hope for this year and for the near future that lies ahead of us, energy-wise. It still needs all of our cooperation and support. *