The new 8MW plant will be built 50 kilometres (31 miles) from the capital Manila, on the country’s biggest island of Luzon, for RASLAG Corp., the renewable energy arm of generation company Angeles Power, Inc. (API). Once connected in the fourth quarter of this year, the plant’s 30,000 panels will produce enough electricity to supply 4,800 local homes. 

“Conergy is proud to be working with RASLAG to deliver much-needed new power capacity in the Philippines," said Marc Lohoff, CEO for Asia Pacific, Conergy. "The project will further demonstrate Conergy’s leading position in building solar plants diligently, on time and to a high quality standard in South East Asia, securing clean electricity for homes and businesses at prices that are affordable and stable.”

The deal will enable Conergy to complete by year end at least 30MW of projects qualifying for government incentives to encourage investment in the country’s first 50MW of utility-scale solar. The contract also gives Conergy -- already one of the market leaders for utility-scale solar plants in Thailand -- a strong early position in the Philippines, where a wave of investment is tackling historic infrastructure challenges.

Growth track 

According to Goldman Sachs, the region -- which has seen a rise in demand for fuel imports -- is poised to become the largest economy in South East Asia by 2050. Furthermore, a weak grid, sky-high electricity prices and frequent blackouts is driving the development and implementation of renewable energy technologies.

 To that end, the Philippine government plans to add 16.2GW of new renewable power capacity in the next fifteen years. That's the equivalent of the country’s entire generating capacity today. At the end of April, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that 1.1GW of new utility-scale solar projects were planned, with the first built by Conergy in the Western Visayas region, and switched on by President Benigno Aquino III last month.

“There are huge opportunities for solar to expand access to electricity and reduce energy imports in the Philippines," said Alexander Lenz, president for Conergy Asia & Middle East, Conergy. "With high and predictable levels of sunlight, solar is already competitive with traditional power generation in many parts of the country. It’s early days and there are logistical challenges, but Conergy has excellent relationships with partners across the archipelago, which allow us to select and successfully develop the right projects.”