September 12, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — SP New Energy Corp. of tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan is searching for a new site for its 280-megawatt solar project as transmission woes derailed plans at the original location.
SPNEC previously sought government approval to terminate the notice of award for the Santa Rosa project in Nueva Ecija that was secured during the first green energy auction program (GEAP) in 2022.
The Department of Energy (DOE), however, reportedly denied the company’s “force majeure” claim.
“We are actually willing to replace the capacity in other areas where we can actually evacuate the energy. We have to look for a new place because I don’t know when that transmission line is going to be available,” SPNEC president and CEO Emmanuel Rubio said.
The executive also hinted that the new site might still be within Luzon.
“But we will ask the DOE if they can consider a certain level of repricing, and we are willing to accept some concessions on the penalties but not the bond,” he said.
Rubio was referring to the performance bond, a financial guarantee provided by the winning bidder to ensure compliance with GEAP guidelines and related agreements.
Under GEAP’s terms of reference (TOR), a winning bidder who fails to deliver the project on time will face a penalty of “one tenth of one percent of the project cost for every day of delay.”
Meanwhile, the maximum withdrawal from the bond shall be 10 percent of the project cost.
According to Rubio, SPNEC is currently reviewing the details and clauses of the TOR to plan its next course of action.
The firm earlier reaffirmed its commitment to helping the government achieve its target of increasing the share of renewable energy in the country’s power generation mix to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.
“We continue to assess and develop opportunities while we progress with the execution of (our) existing projects,” Rubio noted.
SPNEC and its parent Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) recently secured a $600-million investment from UK-based private equity firm Actis to boost the development of its P213-billion Terra Solar project.
The project, strategically located in a 3,500-hectare land straddling the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Bulacan, will boast a total solar capacity of 3,500 megawatts with 4,000 MW-hours of battery energy storage system.
Once completed, the solar facility is expected to deliver 850 MW of mid-merit capacity to Meralco, which in turn benefits about 2.4 million households.
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