[historic project, business model EPC]

Citicore Power Inc. completed its 25-megawatt solar power plant in Silay City, Negros Occidental in February 2016, rendering it eligible to avail of feed-in tariff incentives. The 25 MW plant spans 43 hectares and includes over 96,000 photovoltaic modules. It is expected to power 30,000 homes connected to the Visayas grid. 

Citicore Power tapped sister unit Megawide Construction Corp. as the construction contractor for the project, with Conergy serving as the engineering, design and component provider. 

“This is the first venture of Conergy with Megawide and we are enthusiastic to offer the best utility-scale solar PV solutions and services that our company is globally known for. We are grateful for the trust that has been given to us by Megawide and look forward to doing more projects in the Philippines to further contribute to the rapid development of the country’s RE sector. Conergy aspires to increasingly provide homes and businesses with clean solar energy and we are engaging in more projects to make that a reality here in the country.” said Alexander Lenz, CEO of Conergy. 

The plant is expected to help avoid 21,000 metric tons of carbon emissions per year, equivalent to planting 800,000 trees over the life of the facility. Project funding was secured through LandBank of the Philippines. 

“This is a very significant milestone for us as we complete the first batch of Citicore’s projects, beginning with the Silay plant,” Citicore Power executive vice-president Manolo Candelaria said. Candelaria added that Negros Occidental was an optimal location for solar power production. Energy Department data showed that more than 1,000 MW of solar power would soon come from Negros Occidental, once all targeted projects in the area were commissioned.