SP New Energy Corporation brings ‘newest’ solar technology to the Philippines

The solar farm project in Nueva Ecija will have a capacity of 500 megawatts to address the power needs of 1.5 million Filipinos. 

SP New Energy Corporation (SPNEC) is bringing the “newest” technology to its 500-megawatt solar farm project in Nueva Ecija.

This is the third solar project under the company, following the 63.3-MW solar farm in Calatagan, Batangas in 2016, and the 150-MW solar farm in Concepcion, Tarlac in 2019.  

Holger Schenk, who heads Engineering, Procurement, and Construction at Solar Philippines, said the technology used in the Calatagan solar farm is “quite old,” whilst the solar technology used in the Tarlac farm was sourced in-house.

“[The Nueva Ecija solar farm] has high, high-efficiency solar modules and the newest technology in terms of the electronics and the control that we are using,” Schenk revealed. “It’s the latest tech that we’re using right now in the plant. It delivers green electricity. 100% renewable power. No pollution. No moving parts. No noise.”

Schenk noted that the company also executed a technology competition between string and central inverters to determine which is best to use for the first 50 MW of the project.

The Nueva Ecija solar farm will be connected to the grid system of Luzon. It will largely provide power to households in Metro Manila and the Greater Metro Manila area.

Schenk said once the 500-MW solar farm is fully operational, it is estimated to provide electricity to about 1.5 million Filipinos.

“We are scaling up. The project is now basically 10 times the size of our first project. Projects are becoming bigger; the technology has advanced.”

Moreover, these advancements have been crucial in the scaling process, making projects more cost-efficient.

Schenk emphasized the importance of integrating day-to-day learnings from operational maintenance, ensuring that the project evolves and improves over time with the new plant designs.

This is in line with SPNEC’s overall strategy to build a 100% renewable electricity future for the Philippines.

“We also have future projects bigger than that in the pipeline. We take it step by step, take the learnings from the plant when it's operational, and integrate it into the next, next projects,” Schenk said.