The P1.9 billion 19.4-megawatt solar power project in San Carlos City will start commercial operations in the second quarter of this year, San Carlos Solar Energy Inc. (SaCaSol) chairman, Jose Ma. Zabaleta Sr., said yesterday.

Two additional solar plants are also in the pipeline for Negros, he added.

The SaCaSol project, located at a 35-hectare site in the San Carlos Economic Zone in southern Negros Occidental, has obtained the approval of the Board of Investments and construction has began, he told the DAILY STAR.

The BOI approval was based on the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, he said.

The project will enjoy a seven year income tax holiday incentive and duty-free importation of renewable energy machinery, equipment and materials, including communication equipment within the first 10 years from issuance, amongst other incentives, a statement from the firm said.

It is expected to provide approximately 31,610,473 kilowatt-hour(kWh) of electricity annually to the Visayas Grid which is suffering from brownouts and low voltage problems, it said.

SaCaSol is a renewable energy project being developed by Bronzeoak Philippines Inc. and ThomaLloyd Group. The company has tapped Germany-based Conergy AG as supplier of 22 solar power inverters and 88,000 photovoltaic modules that will be used for the plant, Zabaleta said.

The project will be developed in two phases. The first phase will involve a 13-MW facility and the second phase a 9-MW expansion, both funded by ThomasLloyd from construction through its commercial operation, he added.

It is envisioned that SaCaSol will most likely be the first to energize and thus avail of the FIT (feed-in-tariff). It is hoped that the guidelines under the FIT rules are available as soon as the connection gets underway as expected by March 2014 for Phase one, he said.

Bronzeoak Philippines Inc., through its subsidiaries, will also develop two additional biomass power plants with a combined capacity of 45-MW in San Carlos and La Carlota cities in Negros Occidental and another one a year later for a 30-MW in the Luzon, Zabaleta said.

ThomasLloyd Group – a global investment banking and investment management group focused on projects involving renewable energy and clean technologies, has also announced its intention to finance and build, with Bronzeoak Phils. Inc., two additional solar plants in Negros as soon as possible to immediately improve the power situation in the Visayas Grid, Zabaleta added.

“We are looking at both south Negros and the Manapla area as possible sites,” he said.*CPG

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