Embracing sustainability is no longer a choice; it is already embedded in the power firms’ operations and long-term plans.
Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation (CREC), one of the country’s leading renewable energy (RE) companies engaged in solar, run-of-river hydro, and wind developments, is the first local RE firm to receive the FAST-Infra Sustainability Infrastructure (FISI) Label for its Bokbok 1 and 2 Solar Power Plant Projects in Batangas.
FISI Label is a globally applicable label for projects demonstrating significant positive sustainability performance.
Among the initial six projects labeled as FAST-infra projects, two are from the Philippines, which are Citicore PV projects in Tuy, Batangas. Other certified projects are in India, Vietnam, and Brazil. CREC’s Bolbok 1 and 2, with a combined output of 162 megawatt peak (MWp) of power once completed, will avoid more than 160,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
Global demand
CREC President Oliver Tan said that there is an increasing global demand for sustainable infrastructure, but this must not be just a way of promoting green projects. “The label should not be merely a statement, but really about applying sustainability in our day-to-day,” Tan said.
These two FAST-Infra label projects are also funded by the landmark green infrastructure financing structured by Singapore-based Pentragreen Capital, jointly owned by Temasek and HSBC.
With its five gigawatt (GW) in five-years capacity roadmap, CREC intends to add approximately 1GW of ready-to-build solar energy capacity each year through 2027. This goal supports the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Philippine Energy Plan which targets to achieve a 35 percent RE share in the power generation mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.
CREC Chairman Edgar Saavedra highlighted the urgency to build more RE capacities in line with the national government’s plan. “Our vision is to power a First-World Philippines, and CREC is committed to helping our government achieve its vision for clean energy,” said Saavedra.
Its first plant in Negros Occidental was commissioned in 2016 and has an installed capacity of 25 MWpeak. Recently, it broke ground on its second solar power plant—Citicore Solar Negros Occidental 2—with an installed capacity of 69MWp, with future plans to expand up to 100 MWp.
CREC’s Citicore Solar Negros Occidental 2 currently covers a land area of 69-hectares and has a future expansion plan to a total gross installed capacity of 100MWp. Commercial operation is expected this year, as part of CREC’s deliverables for the government’s Green Energy Auction Program (GEAP) 2.
“With more projects in the pipeline, CREC is committed to working with the DOE and local governments as we transition to more renewable sources of energy for the Visayas and our country,” Saavedra added.
Steward of growth
THE company is not only a leader in harnessing RE, but a responsible steward of growth and development towards a green future. It recently joined established players in the region as winners for its pioneering and currently the only platform in the Philippines which marries solar power generation with agricultural production.
Through its Agrosolar initiative, the same land is employed for both solar facilities and agriculture, providing the much-needed support to small-scale farmers while optimizing the use of natural resources. CREC said this marriage ensures multi-sectoral economic growth through industrialization and agriculture development.
“Our commitment extends beyond clean energy as we equally prioritize the continued growth and development of the micro-economy around our operations. We recognize the huge land requirements for solar plant facilities, and rolled-out the Agrosolar Initiative to support and ensure the welfare of our local farmers,” added Tan.
Also, it developed a Green Financing Framework under which it may issue green bonds and loans to fund selected projects that are expected to contribute to the expansion of renewables, improved forest conservation, and facilitate sustainable water and wastewater management.
Still on the clean energy page is Lopez-led First Gen Corp., which has earmarked as much as $20 billion to hit its 13,000MW target capacity until 2030.
The 2030 target is mainly aligned with the DOE’s forecasted demand. “If the government is saying this is the demand growth, then we’ll have to keep up with that demand growth. It is aligned with that.
But more importantly for us, we’ll have to have an organization and an initiative on all our platforms to be able to address that expected demand of energy in the country by 2030,” said Francis Giles Puno, First Gen president and chief operating officer.
Growing gas capacity
FIRST Gen currently has around 3,500 MW of installed capacity in its portfolio, which account for 19 percent of the country’s gross generation. It plans to grow its gas capacity by 2,000MW from 2,017MW, solar by 1,500MW from 12MW, wind by 5,100MW from 150MW, geothermal by 700MW from 1,182MW; hydro by 300MW from 134MW; and battery energy storage system (BESS) to 40MW by 2030.
First Gen Chairman Federico Lopez had said all of the company’s RE assets are key to achieving a decarbonized energy system. “For the energy companies under my wing, we are focused on ‘Forging pathways to a decarbonized and regenerative world’,” he said.
In 2016, First Gen ditched coal power plants. “We’re quite encouraged with the way we’ve shift the portfolio,” including the purchase of the 165MW Casecnan Hydroelectric Power Plant (CHEPP),” Lopez said.
“Assets like that are very hard to replicate and they’re all in tune to where the world is headed with regards to a decarbonized energy system. These are very important assets for us to come and as they come together, the synergies also become stronger and the ability to run it as a complex,” he added.
CHEPP is a run-of-river type of power facility with limited impounding located in Barangay Villarica, Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija.
The CHEPP, according to Puno, is an important asset that would be tied up to its two existing hydro assets—132MW Pantabangan-Masiway and the 120MW Aya pumped-storage hydro—which are all located in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija.
“Right now, when you look at Casecnan, fundamentally it’s a very important asset for us because we obviously have Pantabangan-Masiway there. We have the plans for project Aya, which is there. So we really needed to make sure that the reservoir is controlled by First Gen.
Casecnan is upstream and to the extent that we could supplement even more supply coming from the upstream side of Casecnan, then that will help Pantabangan-Masiway and project Aya. It also enables us to build out solar and wind as well because those are also intermittent. If we add it up, we create an RE portfolio,” said Puno.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza