NEXIF RATCH Energy starts construction of Calabanga solar project
NEXIF RATCH Energy Investments Pte. Ltd. (NEXIF RATCH Energy) has started the construction of its solar photovoltaic (PV) farm in Calabanga, Camarines Sur, after it secured the needed funding for the project, the Singapore-based energy company said on Monday.
“The start of construction of the Calabanga solar project is an important milestone in our plans to add much needed renewable energy to the Philippines,” Surender Singh, chairman of NEXIF RATCH Energy, said in a media release.
It said funding for the project will be provided by Security Bank Corp., serving as the project’s single lender with SB Capital Investment Corp. as the lead arranger to fund 70% of the project cost on a limited recourse basis.
NEXIF RATCH Energy, through its subsidiary Calabanga Renewable Energy, Inc., will implement the 74 megawatt-peak (MWp) ground-mounted project which is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2024.
The energy company said it intends to sell about 85% of the generated energy output of the solar project to subsidiaries of AboitizPower Corp., AP Renewables, Inc., and Adventenergy, Inc., under a power supply agreement.
It added that the remaining 15% will be sold to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market or through direct short-term contracts with commercial or contestable customers. “With this project now moving to construction, it builds on our under construction/operating portfolio, which already comprises a hydropower project in Vietnam, one stage of which is operating and the other stage that is under construction,” said Sakarin Tangkavachiranon, director of NEXIF RATCH Energy.
NEXIF RATCH Energy said the construction of the project will be conducted by a consortium of PowerChina Huadong Engineering Co. Ltd. and PowerChina Philippines Corp. through a lump-sum turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction contract.
PowerChina Philippines will also handle the operations and maintenance activities of the project for the first two years from the start of the project’s commercial operations.
Mr. Singh said the company is now working to secure funding for its 150-MWp NPSI PV solar project in Negros within this year.
He said that NEXIF RATCH Energy is also “rapidly advancing” the development of its offshore wind pipeline projects in Luzon, with a combined potential capacity of 2,000 MW.
NEXIF RATCH Energy is a joint venture company of Nexif Energy of Singapore and RATCH Group of Thailand. It manages and owns an energy portfolio with a combined capacity of 4 gigawatts spread across Southeast Asia and Australia. — Ashley Erika O. Jose
