By Myrna M. Velasco
The energy investment arm of the Yuchengco group is accelerating the commercial operation of its second phase 20.4-megawatt solar plant expansion at the Central Technopark in Tarlac City.
This was following the delivery of the required solar panels for the project by Chinese firm Trina Solar, which is a key milestone in the project's targeted completion in the coming months.
In a statement to the media, Yuchengco firm PetroSolar Corporation (PetroSolar) indicated that "when completed by the second quarter of 2019, the facility will add to the adjoining 50MW solar plant," which was also a development of the company under the government-underpinned feed-in-tariff (FIT) incentivized regime.
For the expansion venture, the Yuchengco group is eyeing that this will be lined up among those that could satiate the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) policy of the RE sector – based on the rules set forth by the Department of Energy.
The solar farm, as noted, will be equipped with 61,200 pieces of Trina Solar Tallmax TSM PD14A model panels manufactured in the company's facility in Changzhou, China.
"These panels have special reflecting film technology which means more light reflected back into the solar cell, so it can absorb more energy and generate more electricity," the company explained.
Trina Solar is the supplier of the panels, while Solenergy Systems Inc. is the project's engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.
Relative to this venture, PetroSolar Vice President Francisco G. Delfin Jr noted that "Trina's on-time delivery of the solar panels from their China plant to our Tarlac-2 project site testifies to their focus on customers."
For the Chinese firm, Trina Solar Philippines Country Manager Junrhey Castro emphasized that their involvement in the Tarlac-2 solar farm installation reinforces their commitment "to further support PetroSolar's future projects."
He added that the "collaboration is part of our long-running commitment to emerging markets in Asia-Pacific" - the Philippines itself is a very aggressive player in the renewable energy sector.
The country's RE sector is entering a new phase of competition for industry players with targeted installation of more than 15,000MW of additional RE capacity in the next 10 years that shall be incentivized under the RPS policy regime.