Filinvest-ENGIE Renewable Energy Enterprise, Inc. (FREE), a joint venture company of FDC Utilities, Inc., the power utility arm of Filinvest Development Corp (FDC), and ENGIE Services Philippines, recently kicked off its first project, a 2.8 MWp solar rooftop solution at Filinvest Land Inc.’s Festival Mall in Alabang.
The intelligent system will supply about 28 percent of the mall’s peak demand and save close to 41,000 tons of CO2, an equivalent to removing approximately 9,000 cars off the roads of Metro Manila.
FREE had signed a 20-year solar power purchase agreement with Filinvest Land, Inc. (FLI) in 2020. It had since completed the installation of 5,303 photovoltaic solar panels on the rooftops of Festival Mall.
The mall benefits from the project’s build, own, operate and transfer model because it requires no upfront capital expenditure. FREE invests solely and recovers the cost through an electricity tariff paid by Festival Mall over the course of the contract.
“Our strategic alliance with ENGIE has established past track records of success and proven end-to-end low carbon expertise,” said Juan Eugenio Roxas, president and CEO of FREE.