San Carlos Sun Power’s 59MW Solar Power Completed, Eyes April Formal Launch

AboitizPower subsidiary, San Carlos Sun Power (SaCaSun), has completed the construction and commissioning of its 59-MW solar power project in Negros Occidental and is now exporting power to the Visayas grid.

The project was completed before the Department of Energy’s (DOE) March 15 deadline for solar power projects in the country.

“We have successfully completed the project in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental and we are now exporting power into the Visayas grid,” said SaCaSun President and Chief Operating Officer Lino M. Bernardo.

“We look forward to working with all of our stakeholders to further contribute to a cleaner energy future for Negros and for the Philippines as a whole.”

Once it qualifies for the Feed-in-Tariff, Sacasun’s clean and renewable power output will get priority dispatch in the electricity spot market under the FIT rate for solar power at PHP 8.69/kWh.

The company plans to conduct a formal inauguration of the solar project in April.

The plant is expected to generate more than 85 gigawatt hours of clean electricity a year, enough to power 27,600 homes. This should help avoid the emission of more than 44,000 tons of carbon dioxide over 20 years—the equivalent of taking around 10,000 cars off the road.

The Php 4.9-billion project was funded with a mix of equity and debt from BDO Unibank.

SaCaSun is AboitizPower’s first foray into solar power. The company is one of the country’s biggest producers of clean and renewable power through its portfolio of hydroelectric and geothermal power plants.