Cadiz City in Negros Occidental will host the first floating solar farm in the Visayas and Mindanao, which hopefully will be up within a year, Cadiz Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. said Sunday, September 3.
The solar farm that has a target capacity of 100 megawatts (MW) will be built on a sprawling 90-hectare fishpond in Barangay Tinampaan, Cadiz City, he said.
Project proponent Zonal Renewables Corporation (ZRC) recently inked an agreement with property owner A.M. Hijos Inc. (AMHI) of the Montelibano family.
AMHI President Ramon Montelibano and Leandro “Andy” Montelibano said, in a press statement, that the project will be their family’s greatest contribution to government’s quest for decarbonization.
The floating solar project has an ability to sequester 1,250 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or an equivalent of 357,500 trees planted every year, they pointed out.
“This will be our legacy project and noteworthy contribution to the national government’s push towards a carbon neutral Philippines,” the Montelibanos said.
ZRC President Jabez Alvarez said the pact signing “comes at a perfect time.”
This is because the outlook for new RE generation projects in Negros Occidental is quite encouraging, Alvarez said.
“That’s because of the soon-to-be completed additional transmission capabilities by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), and one of them is the Cebu-Negros-Panay Grid Interconnection (CNPGI) project,” he said.
Escalante said ZRC’s entry to Cadiz through AMHI is a clear manifestation that “we are demonstrating a capacity to provide an ease-in-doing business across all sectors.”
The Cadiz City council recently passed a resolution endorsing the floating solar farm project, Escalante said.
Cadiz is also host to a 132-MW solar farm in Barangay Tinampaan.
The Home Vena Energy’s Helios Solar Power Plant (HSPP) commissioned in 2015 occupies 176 hectares, and is said to be the biggest in Southeast Asia and the seventh largest in the world.*