Aboitiz Power expands its solar venture portfolio

Aboitiz Power Corporation is ramping up its presence in solar energy.  With its American partner SunEdison, the company is targeting an installation of between  40 to 100MW prior to the prescribed cut-off period in March 2016.

“With solar, if our negotiations proceed, we might be able to get a project running also this year so we can catch up with the March 2016 deadline,” Aboitiz Power chief finance officer Manuel Lozano said.

He indicated that based on their project timeline, “ideally, we start something by July or third quarter. We are in discussion with some of our projects.” He said that they are looking at projects in Luzon  and Visayas. In the Visayas region, the existing San Carlos solar power facility could serve as a “good development template” for other players.

Lozano said the company has been talking to several prospective parties, “so it depends on which of them. Hopefully, we can do something between 40 to 100MW. If we can get good projects, then we will do them simultaneously.” The Aboitiz Power executive conceded that “we are constrained by time so we need to finish the deal and have the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract ready, the financing ready.”

The company is already talking  to some banks for project financing. The solar race is where the competition is expected to heat up close on the heels of the recent approval by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) of the second wave of feed-in tariff (FIT) at P8.69 per kilowatt-hour.

A total of 1,600 megawatts of solar service contracts will flex its way into 450 megawatts of FIT-underpinned capacity, triggering speculation as to which of the major industry players and new ones will prevail.