Solar Philippines plans to roll out 5,000 megawatts of solar power projects that will lower electricity rates by 30 percent, or equivalent to P100 billion in savings annually.
Solar Philippines said in a statement over the weekend it was interested to replace all planned coal plants with solar battery farms.
It said the planned 5,000-MW plan included details on the locations of the solar farms, integration of batteries for grid reliability and cost of batteries and panels from the company’s factory in Batangas province.
“Our solar costs at least 30 percent less than coal and can save Filipinos P100 billion per year,” Solar Philippines president Leandro Leviste said, adding the company would release the details of the plan at a later time.
The company solar power globally averaged P3 per kilowatt-hour and wents low as 1 per kWh in certain markets, making it cheaper than coal.
It said China’s government recently canceled 120 gigawatts in planned coal plants, including 54 GW already under construction, while completing 34 GW of solar in 2016.
Solar Philippines said India’s government abandoned nearly 20 GW in coal plants, shut down 37 coal mines and was targeting 100 GW of solar by 2022.
The company also cited a report by Bloomberg which estimateed that only about 18 percent of planned coal plants today would ever get built, resulting in 369 GW of cancelations, in light of low solar costs.
Solar Philippines said cheaper power cost was badly needed in the Philippines, which had one of the world’s highest electricity rates.
The company said the Philippines was one of the only countries where plans for new coal plants were still pushing through because of the perception that solar was expensive.
“We can’t fault coal companies or policymakers for not believing in solar. It’s the solar industry’s fault for not having shown that it can be cheaper and more reliable than coal. Now with our 5,000-MW solar plan, and our first 24/7 solar-battery projects to be completed this year, we see no scenario where most planned coal projects will push through,” Leviste said.
“It is simply a fact that solar with batteries is now the least cost power in the Philippines, and anything else will result in higher rates to consumers. We encourage the local power industry to consider this before investing billions into new coal, and hopefully they will see, like the Indians and Chinese, that the future is already here,” Leviste said.
Solar Philippines said coal plants were facing critical times and might even face closure if renewables could offer lower costs under the retail competition and open access regime, where large power users could choose their own suppliers.
Leviste said consumers today could already avail of 30 percent savings by installing solar on their rooftops under Solar Philippines’ Save-to-Own zero upfront program.