PetroSolar Corp. announced on Wednesday that its 50-megawatt (MW) Tarlac-1 solar power project received its certificate of compliance from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
PetroEnergy Resources Corp. (PERC) president Milagros Reyes said the certificate is a testament to the company’s “satisfactory compliance to all technical, organizational, legal and financial requirements to operate a solar power plant.”
It also guarantees the company a FIT rate of P8.69 for every kilowatt-hour (kWh) it contributes to the power grid for the next 20 years.
In March, the solar facility was granted Provisional Authority to Operate as a Feed-in-Tariff eligible power plant (PAO-FIT).
The 55-hectare site in at the Central Technopark in Tarlac is the first solar energy plant of the company. PetroSolar is 56%-owned by the PetroGreen Energy Corp. (PGEC), and EEI Corp. whole subsidiary EEI Power Corp. with 44 percent.
“Along with the FIT payments for our 36-MW Nabas wind facility and the long-term energy supply contract for our base-load 20-MW Maibarara-1 geothermal power station and its on-going 12-MW expansion (Maibarara-2), these assured revenue streams boost PERC’s expansion from our Gabon oil production towards renewable energy development and power generation,” she said.
PetroGreen vice president and COO Francisco Delfin Jr. said the project had an electro-mechanical completion of 80% in December and started contributing power to the Luzon grid near the end of January.
Commercial operations began in February, and the Department of Energy (DOE) granted it the certificate of endorsement for feed-in-tariff eligibility (COE-FIT) on March 7.
Reyes said the company will seek more renewable energy projects. “We shall continue to assess new investment opportunities in the country’s renewable energy industry under the current leadership of the Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso Cusi,” she said.
On Wednesday, PetroEnergy shares rose by 2.28% to P4.03 each. EEI shares were up 1.54% to P7.92 each.