BCDA exec: P1-B solar farm to energize Clark Green City

• Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/local-news/2015/07/22/bcda-exec-p1-b-solar-farm-energize-clark-green-city-420392
• Wednesday, July 22, 2015

By Reynaldo G. Navales

CLARK FREEPORT -- Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president and Chief Executive Officer Arnel Paciano Casanova announced Wednesday that SSR C-Solar Power Inc., a domestic corporation engaged in solar energy use, has signed on Wednesday a 25-year lease and P1-billion solar energy project with BCDA for the construction and development of a solar farm in a 25-hectare parcel of land within Clark Green City.

The leading Asian renewable energy group will develop a solar farm as an alternative source of renewable energy for the master planned Clark Green City. The lease agreement is renewable for another 25 years where SSR C-Solar will use the leased property to develop its solar-photovoltaic power generation and operations in accordance with the Clark Green City master plan's "green, smart and disaster-resilient developments."

"We want to create a Green City that is unique using solar power as an alternative source of energy. This partnership will be nurtured over the years. Together, we will move forward with critical infrastructure that could define the identity of the modern, and sustainable city for our country," Casanova said.

He added that solar power has emerged as a viable alternative, which will address major power concerns such as supply, spending and environmental impact.

For his part, SSR Group Chief Executive Officer Assaad Wajdi Razzouk said they are delighted to work with the BCDA on this important solar power development as project implementor.

"We are in this business because of conviction. We are committed to play a major role in building out the Philippines' clean energy infrastructure," Razzouk said. He noted that clean energy is critical both to underpin economic growth and efforts to create jobs.

The initial number of panels to be installed in the 25-hectare leased property will generate a target output of 20 megawatts (MW) or 20,000 kilowatts and is expected to supply electricity to at least 10,000 households.

If completed, this will be the second largest solar farm in the country next to the 50 MW solar farm project in Calatagan, Batangas.

"Clark Green City will lead the way in providing clean, sustainable power," Arrey Perez, BCDA Manager for Business Development said, and added that hosting renewable solar power facilities is just one of the many environmental-friendly features of the Green City.

Perez also said that aside from SSR C-Solar, another 100 MW solar energy contract is in the offing.

While the Philippines’ current electricity supply is generated from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, solar power generation has emerged worldwide as one of the most rapidly growing renewable sources of electricity.

The construction of the solar farm is expected to begin in the last quarter of this year.

The succeeding number of solar panels to be installed and the corresponding increase in MW will generate enough energy to meet the power requirements of a substantial number of residences in the Green City.

A flagship project of the BCDA under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, Clark Green City is pegged as a "city in a farm" in a 9,450-hectare metropolis located at the Clark Special Economic Zone.

The Green City was patterned after Songdo, South Korea's Green City, which features sustainable buildings and efficient energy sources, and also fashioned out of Singapore's City in a Garden master plan where communities are engaged and inspired to sustain a greener environment.

The BCDA also adopted the best practices it learned from building the world-class Bonifacio Global City into creating the Green City.

The Green City is eyed to be the country’s first smart, green, and disaster-resilient metropolis, which is expected to break ground in 2016.