San Carlos Ecozone, Barangay Punao, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental
19 April 2016
President Benigno S. Aquino III led the switch-on ceremony and inauguration of the 59-megawatt (MW) San Carlos Sun Power Inc. (SacaSun) solar power plant at San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.
The solar plant sits on a 75-hectare property inside the San Carlos Ecozone and is expected to deliver 82-gigawatt (GW) a year of renewable energy to the Visayas grid. This renewable energy plant is expected to help avoid 72,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
“I am certain that, as we welcome even more advances in renewables, we can minimize our reliance on fossil fuels, increase the share of renewables, all without jeopardizing the price structure,” President Aquino said in his speech.
The project started construction in August 2015 and employed more than four thousand workers, 80% of which came from the community of San Carlos City and about a third were women.
“Malaking tulong sa pamilya ang pagtatrabaho ko dito. Unang-una, di na ako kailangang humiwalay sa pamilya upang makipagsapalaran sa labas ng bansa… naging proud din ako sa sarili dahil ako ay isang babae subalit nakapagtrabaho sa isang institusyon na tumutugon sa problema sa kakulangan ng kuryente,” said Ms. Suzzette Escorial, a San Carlos City resident and employee of SacaSun.
SacaSun’s clean and renewable energy output is expected to qualify for Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) incentives and get priority dispatch in the electricity spot market under the FIT rate for solar power at PhP 8.69/kWh.
President Aquino mentioned the Visayas region’s increase in its dependable capacity from around 1,300 MW in 2010 to 2,228 MW in the present, an increase of more than 900 MW. The Visayas power grid is connected with the Luzon power grid, enabling the sourcing of energy from each other when necessary.
Over the course of President Aquino’s administration, a total of 3,262 MW in installed capacity from 70 power plants were commissioned, 38 of which are renewable.
Sixty committed projects, 42 of which are renewable, are currently in the pipeline and are expected to add another 5,404 MW throughout the country’s power grid.
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