Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC) is preparing to break ground on its 150-megawatt (MW) solar project with San Miguel Global Light and Power Corp. (SGLP), a unit of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp., within the first quarter of the year.
If all goes according to plan, the project located in Barangay Lucanin, Mariveles, Bataan, may start supplying clean energy to the national grid by as early as 2026.
“We are doing the design now, so we target to break ground maybe within the first quarter of the year. It will take one year to complete after construction,” CREC President Oliver Tan said in a recent interview.
A July 2024 regulatory filing first revealed that the joint venture would have an initial 49-51 percent ownership split between CREC and SGLP, respectively. Once construction starts, CREC would increase its stake, resulting in a 50-50 ownership split.
The project’s cost remains undisclosed, but Tan confirmed that this could be the first of several planned partnerships with San Miguel.
“This is the first. We hope that if successful, both parties are happy, we hope that it will continue to the next and the next,” he said.
Tan also confirmed that CREC will participate in the Department of Energy's Round 4 of the Green Energy Auction, focusing on solar power projects paired with battery storage systems, under the Integrated Renewable Energy Storage System.
For Tan, the project with San Miguel is a crucial step in CREC’s plan to add 1,000 MW of solar capacity annually, with a target of 5,000 MW by 2028.