Philippines-government-owned National Power Corporation (NPC), through South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SOCOTECO II) held a groundbreaking ceremony for a 1-megawatt peak ground-mounted solar development in General Santos, Mindanao Island, Philippines under the Rural Network Solar (RNS) program.
Clean energy expert, Solarvest Holdings Berhad (Solarvest) formed a consortium with solar energy solutions provider, Edward Marcs Philippines, Inc. and were appointed as the engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning (EPCC) solutions providers for the Project.
SOCOTECO II is a non-profit electric cooperative (EC) of NPC to construct electricity distribution systems in rural areas. The Project is administered by the World Bank and funded by the European Union (EU) under the Access to Sustainable Energy in the Philippines Programme (ASEP) that aims to provide affordable, clean, and disaster-resilient energy systems to the isolated communities in the Philippines.
With that, small grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants will be installed at the distribution substations within the geographic region of the EC.
Vice President in Power Engineering Services of NPC, Atty. Rogel T. Teves said, “This is a monumental day for us as we make significant headway in meeting the Philippines’ rural electrification targets by means of renewable energy. Through the energisation of far-flung, off-grid areas and islands in the country, we believe that this initiative will bring a direct impact on the livelihoods of our people with clean and sustainable power. Progressing beyond the provision of electricity access for the underserved community, we strive to expand our energy generation and promote energy efficiency through the RNS program to further drive the social and economic growth in the Philippines.”
On behalf of the Consortium, Executive Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of Solarvest, Davis Chong Chun Shiong said, “Holding strong to our corporate vision of energising a regenerative world, we are honoured to work with NPC to construct grid-connected solar PV plants in supporting the secluded households and communities in a sustainable manner.
Other than introducing new energy generation capacity as a competitive approach to brown energy alternatives, this project is an important step for us to advance our regional expansion agenda and expand within the Philippines market. In line with NPC’s efforts to power the remote areas such as Luzon, Sultan Kudarat, and Cotabato, we are also confident in our expertise as a regenerative partner to uplift the quality of life by providing access to green electricity. To which, we look forward to many more fruitful collaborations to come,” Davis said.
