The renewable energy arm of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) said that its TerraSolar project, a joint venture with Terra Solar Philippines, Inc., is moving ahead faster than expected.
In a briefing, Emmanuel Rubio, Meralco PowerGen Corporation (MGen) president and chief executive officer, said the project's development phase is 73 percent complete, which covers land acquisition, permitting, procurement, and interconnection.
“We continue to make significant strides in our low-carbon energy transition journey, highlighted by the progress made in our flagship project, TerraSolar,” Rubio said. “Last July, the project was certified by the Department of Energy (DOE) as an energy project of national significance.”
Last July, Terra Solar was also awarded the Green Lane Certificate by the Board of Investments, which expedited permit approvals and processing.
To date, photovoltaic (PV) land and transmission line right-of-way acquisition are both 62 percent complete, while overall land acquisition is at 61 percent. The development of the solar farm project is 96 percent complete, major equipment procurement is at 95 percent, and interconnection development is currently 90 percent complete.
Despite the project not having started yet, Rubio stated that they have been actively pursuing partnerships and negotiating the Energy, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contracts.
“[We are] just slightly ahead of schedule. We still have a number of transmission lands to secure. We're close to actually finalizing, and acquiring all the lots for phase one. Phase two is still ongoing. Phase two is the one that we're working on now, given that on phase one we're close to securing, converting, and then we will be reclassifying the lots for the PV sites,” Rubio explained.
Meanwhile, other partnerships involve grid connection through the help of Meralco’s subsidiary.
“Driven by its commitment to efficiency, TSPI partnered with the Meralco Industrial Engineering Services Corp. or Miescor to build the infrastructure needed to connect Terra Solar to the national grid. This includes a main collector substation, two solar collector substations, and the installation of a 230 kilovolt (kV) connection line,” he added.