AboitizPower’s solar plant adds new capacity to the grid amid tight supply

By Alena Mae S. Flores – April 30, 2024, 7:25 pm
from manilastandard.net

Aboitiz Renewables Inc. (ARI), the renewable energy (RE) arm of Aboitiz Power Corp., said Tuesday the timely testing and commissioning of the 159-megawatt peak (MWp) Laoag Solar Power Plant in Aguilar, Pangasinan helped provide additional capacity and minimize grid strain, given the tight power supply.

“Together with the 94 MWp Cayanga-Bugallon Solar Power facility — also built on sloping, non-agricultural land in Pangasinan and energized last October 2023 — both solar projects will account for about 200 megawatts of total sellable capacity that will eventually contribute much-needed electricity to the grid. We are eager to contribute to our country’s journey toward energy security, especially during these challenging times,” said ARI president Jimmy Villaroman.

The 94-MWp Cayanga-Bugallon Solar Power facility was built on non-arable sloping ground instead of the usual flat fields fit for agriculture.

AboitizPower said the 17-MW Tiwi Binary Geothermal Power Plant would also come online in the second quarter this year.

Co-located with the Tiwi Geothermal Power Plant in Albay, the binary plant harvests residual heat from the hot brine side of the geothermal production process, otherwise unutilized before reinjecting back to the earth, to produce more electricity.

Meanwhile, AboitizPower said the 24-MW  Magat battery energy storage system (BESS) — which began commercial operations in January 2024 — is primarily being used for ancillary services to augment supply in the Luzon grid.

The project is under the SN Aboitiz Power Group, a joint venture between Scatec and AboitizPower.

Through subsidiary ARI, AboitizPower’s initial expansion phase covers 1,200 MW of new capacities, which includes Laoag, Cayanga-Bugallon, Tiwi,  Magat BESS, and 218 MW of projects that started construction, among others.

The second phase of AboitizPower’s expansion will see another 1,700 MW of new solar and wind power.

This is aligned with the government’s target of a 35-percent RE share in the nation’s energy mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.

AboitizPower plans to build 3,700 MW of new RE capacity—including projects in solar, wind, geothermal and hydro—en route to 4,600 MW by 2030.