Driven by an aggressive MTerra Solar project buildout, Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGEN), the generation arm of Manila Electric Co., is tracking to increase its installed generating capacity by 34 percent to 6,800 megawatts (MW) by the end of the year.

Speaking at the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Tuesday, President and CEO Emmanuel V. Rubio said MGEN expects to add 1,731 MW to its existing 5,069-MW portfolio as of last year, supported by accelerated investments in the sector.

“Once MTerra Solar Phase 1 is completed, we will increase our capacity to 6,800 MW this year, and continue to ramp up to more than 10,000 MW of capacity by 2030,” Rubio said.

Phase 1 of MTerra Solar was nearly 90 percent complete as of the end of May, with 2,090 megawatts of direct current solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity installed, 741 battery energy storage system (BESS) units deployed, and 89 500-kilovolt transmission towers completed.

The project has already started supplying electricity to Meralco, delivering 93.3 gigawatt-hours of energy since its energization in March.

“To date, MTerra Solar is already the largest operational integrated solar PV and BESS facility in the world,” Rubio said.

According to Rubio, MGEN has secured land options covering more than 1,000 hectares for future renewable energy projects to sustain growth beyond its flagship development.

“As part of our renewable energy expansion, we have secured land options and are eyeing more than 1,000 hectares for future projects. This allows us to continue building our pipeline and sustain our growth in renewables beyond MTerra Solar,” he said.

Rubio also said MGEN continues to study small modular reactors to diversify its generation portfolio and assess the role nuclear energy could play in meeting the country’s future power needs.

MGEN recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam-based VinEnergo Energy Joint Stock Company to explore large-scale renewable energy and energy storage projects in the Philippines. 

The companies are studying projects that could provide up to 5 gigawatts of baseload-equivalent capacity through up to 25 gigawatts of integrated renewable energy and battery storage, to deliver round-the-clock clean power and support the country’s growing electricity demand.