MGen giving P424 million to MGreen for 210 MW of solar-power projects
By Lenie Lectura -October 2, 2019
from Business Mirror
THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will provide P424 million to MGen Renewable Energy Inc. (MGreen) to partly finance the development of 210 megawatts (MW) of various solar-power projects.
“The company’s board of directors approved the request from MGreen, a subsidiary of Meralco PowerGen Corp., for a total of P424.2-million equity funding for its solar projects under development with combined capacity of 210 Mw and total estimated project cost of P10.01billion,” said Meralco on Tuesday.
The 210 MW form part of the company’s plan to invest in 1,000 MW of renewable-energy projects over the next five to seven years.
“MGen, through MGreen, will continue working on the realization of our project opportunities and will work in partnership with established developers to maximize our growth potential,” MGen President and CEO Rogelio L. Singson said.
MGreen is the renewable-energy subsidiary of MGen, which, in turn, is the power generation arm of Meralco. The company was established to serve as the platform for the strategic push to develop renewable-energy projects, primarily solar, wind and run-of-river hydro.
MGreen said the 210-MW solar-power projects are in line with its commitment to develop large-scale renewable-energy projects that will provide reliable, environment-friendly power at competitive prices without the need for subsidy.
“We believe that now is the time to focus on building our green energy capacity and we intend to be a key player in the renewable-energy space,” said Singson. “We also hope to contribute to the country’s transition toward sustainable energy.”
He earlier said that more RE deals would be signed soon. “In terms of [the] commitment of the group to expand our RE projects, we are lining up in the immediate future, as early as 2020, about 350 MW of RE projects that are almost near completion. Unfortunately, we are covered by NDA so we can’t disclose until we sign agreements with them,” said Singson. He said the RE deals will be signed this year but the commercial operation date of these RE projects, which include solar and microgrid, “could be next year.”
Also, the RE deals this year are targeted to be completed in time for the release of the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) guidelines.
RPS mandates distribution utilities to source a minimum portion of energy from renewable sources, thus guaranteeing a market for renewable-energy generators. This minimum will be increased on yearly basis.
“We are working on several renewable-energy prospects and we recognize the significant reduction in the development cost, particularly for large-scale solar and wind over the past years. We intend to be a key player in this expanding sector,” Singson said earlier.
