Solar Philippines said Thursday it is speeding up the construction of solar power projects with joint venture partners following the Department of Energy’s declaration of a moratorium on new coal plants.
Solar Philippines president Leandro Leviste said the company was heeding the call of the DOE to accelerate RE development through a three-fold strategic direction, including a possible initial public offering.
“We are preparing the company for that [IPO]. Before that, we are completing the development of our projects now with a focus on doing so with our partners,” Leviste said.
He said Solar Philippines strongly believed in the value of partnerships.
“While we once focused on competing with others in the power industry, we are now collaborating with several local and foreign partners, harnessing their strengths across all our projects to take solar in the Philippines to the next level,” Leviste said.
Solar Philippines increasingly focused on forging partnerships in recent years.
Solar Philippines signed a partnership in June with the Razon Group’s Prime Infra to develop a pipeline of projects, representing the largest solar joint venture in the country.
This includes completing the 200-megawatt solar farm in Tarlac province, the country’s largest solar project to date.
Two years ago, Solar Philippines welcomed one of the world’s largest power companies, Korea Electric Power Corp. as a partner in 63-MW solar farm in Batangas, KEPCO’s first renewable energy project in Southeast Asia.
Leviste said the company was also bringing onboard professional management to lead Solar Philippines “as a step towards becoming a more widely-held public company.”
He said Solar Philippines would start a new company to focus on investments in provincial real estate, “while enabling Solar Philippines to focus on developing projects that are symbiotic with this real estate.”
“With these changes, we are more optimistic than ever that we and our partners can deliver a portfolio of projects that will make the Philippines a leader in the global energy transition,” Leviste said.
According to the DOE, Solar Philippines is developing projects with a combined capacity of over 10 gigawatts in over a dozen provinces.