Nickel Asia Corp. subsidiary Emerging Power Inc. (EPI) said an additional 72 megawatts of solar energy from Jobin-SQM Inc. (JSI) had been connected to the national power grid last week.
JSI’s renewable energy facility is located in Mt. Sta. Rita within the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales, which brings the company’s total installed and operational solar power capacity to 172 MW.
The project includes a compact substation with features supporting advanced communications and remote operations control functions including faster response time in case of technical incidents.
The new substation servicing the 72-MW expansion also connects to the existing substation servicing the 100-MW line and the consolidated capacity of 172 MW that runs thru a 7.7-kilometer line to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority substation of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
With this additional solar capacity in operation, EPI has increased its contribution towards the augmentation of the country’s renewable energy supply. EPI is the renewable energy arm of listed natural resources development firm Nickel Asia Corp.
EPI is also developing pilot geothermal projects in Mindoro and Biliran Island. When completed, the pilot operations may be expanded to realize potentially 20 MW in Mindoro and 50 MW in Biliran.
EPI also has a joint venture with Shell Overseas Investments B.V. targeting to build a capacity of as much as 1,000 MW by 2028, with ambitions to contribute up to 3,000 MW in renewable capacity by rolling out a series of projects in Luzon and the Visayas.
The parties said the focus is on utility scale solar farms and opportunities in onshore wind and energy storage systems.
