PILIPINAS Shell Petroleum Corp. (Pilipinas Shell) is building an integrated energy system in Tabangao, Batangas, to power the electricity requirements of its 110,000 barrel per day refinery.
The energy system is composed of solar energy, natural gas and battery energy storage system. Once completed, Pilipinas Shell’s Tabangao Refinery in Batangas will earn the distinction of being the first oil refinery with an industrial-scale solar farm in the Philippines and one of the largest battery storage projects in Southeast Asia.
The integrated energy system is expected to produce approximately 2,400 megawatt hours of power annually, enough energy to power more than 850 homes, or roughly the size of a small barangay.
This will improve the energy efficiency of Pilipinas Shell’s Tabangao Refinery while enabling the export of its excess—and cleaner—natural gas-generated power to the Luzon grid. It also expects to offset some 8,760 tons of carbon dioxide annually, equivalent to planting more than half a million trees.
Aside from the solar farm, Pilipinas Shell will also install a 3 megawatt-hour battery-energy storage system (BESS) at its manufacturing site in Tabangao, Batangas City. Work on the solar farm is expected to start next month, while installation of the battery system is scheduled in the second quarter of 2020.
Cesar Romero, Pilipinas Shell’s president and chairman of Shell companies in the Philippines, said the integrated solution is the result of collaboration between Pilipinas Shell and Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDS) New Energies business, to showcase Shell’s aspiration to thrive in the energy transition and, at the same time, demonstrate opportunities to unlock value between conventional and new energy systems.
Upon its full completion, the integrated energy system of the Batangas Refinery will effectively showcase Pilipinas Shell’s commitment to and leadership in the energy transition through the use of cleaner energy technologies in the oil and gas industry.
“Pilipinas Shell takes a broad perspective on the energy transition and will deliver commercially viable energy solutions to our own sites. This started in our retail business, where there are currently 39 Shell retail stations in the Philippines already fitted out with solar panels and energy efficient equipment,” said Romero.
The use of cleaner energies to power the requirements of its Batangas Refinery is Pilipinas Shell’s contribution to the overall ambition of RDS to play a part and contribute to the global effort to tackle climate change as it provides energy to meet the world needs.
