Solar Philippines to build 1 GW by 2018

Solar Philippines to build 1 GW by 2018

Solar Philippines plans to finish building 1 GW of solar by next year, with
roughly half of that capacity to be constructed outside of the Philippines.

Thus far, the company's highest-profile project is a 63.3 MW array in the
Philippines. It completed the $120 million installation in Calatagan,
Batangas province, in early 2016.

Beyond its home market, the Manila-based company is developing PV projects
in India, the U.S. and undisclosed countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
It is also installing solar in a number of Southeast Asian markets,
including Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar.

It expects to finish its first overseas PV projects by the end of this year,
but it did not reveal additional information about its pipeline. Thus far,
its highest-profile project is a 63.3 MW array in the Philippines. It
completed the $120 million installation in Calatagan, Batangas province, in
early 2016.

Solar Philippines said in an online statement this week that it expects its
annual exports of PV modules to surpass 10 billion pesos ($197.08 million) n
value by next year. In March, it started production at the first
domestically owned solar panel factory in the Philippines. It acquired the
plant after SunPower exited the country last year and claims that the
facility will directly employ 1000 people this year.

Solar Philippines plans to ramp up annual output to 800 MW at the facility
in Tanauan, Batangas province, by the end of this year. It wants to
eventually reach 2 GW of annual production capacity and aims to become the
"largest non-Chinese solar panel manufacturer" in the world.

"Exporting solar panels is not a viable business in itself, as global demand
and regulations can change overnight," said Leandro Leviste, president of
Solar Philippines. "However, we took the risk on this factory, because even
if the global market fizzles, we have our own projects that we can supply.
This has allowed us to fully book our capacity for 2017, and build economies
of scale to make our costs globally competitive."

Solar Philippines has already established itself as a rooftop PV developer
in its home market. Its bigger rooftop projects include a 1.2 MW array it
built in Palawan for Robinsons Land, a property developer that has set its
own ambitious PV installation goals.

Earlier this year, Solar Philippines formally urged the country's utilities
to adopt solar. It presented a proposal to replace all new coal-fired plants
that are scheduled for construction with 5 GW of solar capacity, backed by
storage batteries. It said it plans to finished building its first
PV+storage project in the Philippines by the end of this year. However, it
did not disclose additional details about the installation.

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Link to Original Article:
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2017/07/21/solar-philippines-to-build-1-gw-by-20
18/

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com