First Gen starts P2.1-B Batangas solar push

First Gen Corp. has started construction of its first utility-scale solar facility in Batangas, with the P2.1-billion project targeted for completion by summer next year as the Lopez-led firm accelerates its expansion.

The company on Wednesday broke ground for the 54-megawatt (MW) Inara Solar Power Plant in Barangay Bilog-bilog, Tanauan City.

The Inara project will rise on a 36-hectare property with room for expansion of up to 100 MW.

The design also includes provisions for a future battery energy storage system to improve operational flexibility and grid stability.

“Solar brings accessibility, scalability, and abundance - allowing clean energy to be deployed more rapidly and across many locations. Through this project, we aim to expand renewable energy in a way that continues to create opportunities for both communities and industries,” First Gen President Francis Giles B. Puno said.

First Gen said it plans to incorporate agrivoltaics into the project design, allowing crops to be cultivated beneath solar panels.

“This means farmers can continue cultivating crops even as solar panels generate electricity above. Energy production does not have to displace agriculture; the two can work together, allowing the same land to support both food production and clean energy,” Puno said.

Once operational, the facility will be embedded within the distribution system of Batangas Electric Cooperative II, which is expected to improve the quality and reliability of electricity service in the area.

Power from the project is also expected to supply the nearby First Philippine Industrial Park, a 520-hectare economic zone about 11 kilometers from the site that hosts more than 150 locators.

The solar facility will help complete First Gen’s plan to increase its generating capacity to 13,000 MW by 2030, or roughly an additional 9,000 MW from current levels.

First Gen currently operates about 1,700 MW of capacity from 30 hydro, geothermal, solar, and wind facilities nationwide.

The company is also expanding through other clean energy investments, including plans to acquire a 33 percent stake in the pumped storage hydropower portfolio of Prime Infrastructure Capital, which includes the 600-MW Wawa project in Rizal and the 1,400-MW Ahunan project in Laguna.

First Gen also holds a 40 percent stake with Prime Infra in four gas-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 2,017 MW, which support baseload requirements and help offset the intermittency of renewable sources.

In addition, the company has a joint venture with PT DSSR Daya Mas Sakti, a subsidiary of PT Dian Swastatika Sentosa Tbk, to jointly develop six geothermal power projects with a combined potential capacity of 440 MW.