Aussie Firm Eyes 520-MW Solar Power Plant In Cebu

An Australian firm has expressed interest in studying Cebu as a potential location of a 520-megawatt solar power plant project, an official said.

Benjamin Joseph C. Yap, Cebu Investment Promotions Office (CIPO) chief, said the company, whose name he did not disclose, approached them late last year to regarding the planned project.

The company will be conducting a study on the project’s viability, he said.

“We are still in the initial stages of talking to them,” Yap said.

He said he is not yet aware of the estimated cost of the solar power plant project.

The CIPO, established in 2015 after the approval of the Cebu Investment and Incentives Code in 2014, is mandated to attract, promote and encourage domestic and foreign investments in Cebu.

CIPO’s investment priority areas include renewable energy, energy, agribusiness and fishery, mass housing, infrastructure, motor vehicles, tourism, mining, clean water project, export activities and training centers.

Yap said businesses facilitated through CIPO will receive tax incentives.

He said businesses with capital below PHP5 million are exempted from paying property taxes to the Cebu Provincial Government.

Yap said the CIPO is also collaborating with the Local Economic Investment and Promotions Officers (LEIPOS) in the different towns and cities in the province to assist in the formulation of their respective Local Investment and Incentives Code.

Yap said only the cities of Mandaue, Cebu and Lapu-Lapu have existing investment and incentives codes.(PNA) FFC/EB/EDS