Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. and partner AC Energy Corp. energized the 72-MW solar power plant in Pampanga province to help augment the capacity in the Luzon grid during the dry season.
The parties said the Arayat-Mexico solar farm started to export power to the grid less than a year after breaking ground. An expansion to bring the solar project to 116 MW is underway.
“As we prepare to infuse this new asset into CREIT to grow its renewable energy asset portfolio in the coming months, our construction team is ready to break ground the Phase 2 by next month which will increase the total plant capacity to 116 MW upon completion hopefully before the end of the year,” said Citicore chief executive Oliver Tan.
After the successful energization, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines will test the plan for grid compliance, which is expected to be completed by the second week of April.
“The on-time energization of this project further demonstrated Citicore’s solid track record in greenfield development to engineering, procurement and construction to plant operations and maintenance, a vertically integrated business model like no other,” said Tan.
The solar plant will be managed and operated in-house by our Citicore Property Managers Inc., which has eight solar farms and one micro-grid solar rooftops under management.
“The Arayat-Mexico solar farm is yet another example of how partners leveraging on their collective expertise, experience and determination can deliver a high-quality project safely and on time,” said Jose Maria Zabaleta, chief development officer of ACEN.
Once fully operational, the 72 MW solar farm will produce 105 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy annually, enough to power 45,000 households while avoiding 72,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually.