Prime Infra Set to Develop World’s Largest Solar Farm

Prime Infrastructure Holdings, Inc. (Prime Infra) is looking to establish the world’s largest solar facility to be led by its unit Terra Solar Philippines. The Razon-led firm is currently looking at potential sites within northern and southern Luzon for the project. Prime Infra expects the solar farm to generate between a capacity of up 2,500 megawatts and 3,500 MW of electricity along with a mega battery energy storage system that can hold up to 4,500 MW hours.

“Prime Infra finds a sweet spot to pursue solar as we take advantage of the steep decline in installation costs over the past decade and the improved battery energy storage system technology that allows us to build an economically critical and socially relevant infrastructure at a scale the world has never seen before,” explained Guillaume Lucci, president, and CEO of Prime Infra.

Terra Solar — which is under Prime Infra’s renewable energy (RE) subsidiary Terra Renewables Holdings, Inc. — will develop the solar facility in partnership with Leandro Leviste’s Solar Philippines. The proposed project will eclipse the Bhadla Solar Park in India, which is currently the world’s biggest operating solar farm with a capacity of 2,250 MW. The two partners are, likewise, in the process of building another solar farm in Tarlac.

Prime Infra’s unit also signed an agreement with Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) last year to supply 850 MW of electricity generated by the facility to the power distributor. Terra Solar’s power supply agreement with Meralco came to fruition after the two entities that challenged its unsolicited offer failed to submit the necessary requirements.

Meralco further noted that the competitive bidding complied with the Department of Energy’s policy on renewable portfolio standards (RPS). The RPS compels power distribution utilities to source or produce a fraction of their requirements from eligible RE resources. Under the agreement, Terra Solar will supply 600 MW of electricity to Meralco beginning in 2026, while the remaining 250 MW will be supplied in the following year.

This solar project aims to augment the Philippines’ energy security, according to Lucci. “Solar, which is normally looked at for peaking, is now being made available by Terra Solar to answer Meralco’s mid-merit requirement, thereby addressing both the need for additional capacity and compliance with RPS,” added the Prime Infra executive. The firm also expects the solar facility to become “a model of dependable renewable energy, which represents a stable price not subject to fuel imports volatility for the rest of its 20-year contract.”

The country currently has a yearly usage of around 1.4 million tons of coal or 930,000 liters of oil for power generation. According to Prime Infra, its 850-MW supply can disrupt these figures entailing a “reduction in both greenhouse gas emissions and import dependency for the country from 2026 to 2046.” Aside from solar energy, the company has also been investing in hydropower plants and water utilities over the past few years.

Sources: BusinessWorld, Forbes