Solar Ph begins construction of Nueva Ecija “solar ranch”

Just over a week after its public listing, Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corporation (SPNEC) said it has begun construction works on its 500-megawatt (MW) “solar ranch” project in Peñaranda town.

The project, which the company aims to be Southeast Asia’s largest solar venture, is expected to create over 5,000 jobs during construction and over 500 jobs once operational. SPNEC is also investing in training locals in solar panel installation, given the expected scale of projects in this area over the coming years. 

Solar Philippines earlier said that SPNEC will invest the proceeds of its Php2.7 billion initial public offering to complete the first 50MW of the project and acquire land to expand the project beyond 500MW.

SPNEC has been developing the project since since 2016. The firm plans to begin delivering the first 50MW to the Luzon Grid by the end of 2022 before installing the next 175MW on the way to the targeted completion of the entire 500MW by 2023.

The Leandro Leviste-led firm announced just before Christmas that it will push through with a 1,000MW expansion via a joint venture, though it did not name the partner to be involved.

Solar Philippines has existing partnerships with Ayala-led ACEN for its 72MW solar plant project in Pampanga and Enrique Razon’s Prime Infra for its projects in Tarlac, Batangas, and Cavite.