Oil company Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. said it will build an integrated energy system utilizing solar, natural gas and battery to power its 110,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Tabangao, Batangas City.
“This integrated solution is the result of collaboration between Pilipinas Shell and Royal Dutch Shell’s new energies business, to showcase Shell’s aspiration to thrive in the energy transition, and at the same time demonstrate opportunities to unlock value between conventional and new energy systems,” said Cesar Romero, president of Pilipinas Shell and chairman of Shell Companies in the Philippines.
The energy system is expected to produce 2,400 megawatt-hours which is enough to power more than 850 homes, or roughly the size of a small barangay (community) once completed.
“Pilipinas Shell takes a broad perspective on the energy transition and will deliver commercially-viable energy solutions to our own sites. This started in our retail business, where there are currently 39 Shell retail stations in the Philippines already fitted out with solar panels and energy efficient equipment” he said.
The system is expected improve the energy efficiency of Pilipinas Shell’s Tabangao Refinery while enabling the export of its excess and cleaner natural gas-generated power to the Luzon grid.
Pilipinas Shell is expecting to offset some 8,760 tons of carbon dioxide annually, equivalent to planting more than half a million trees.
Romero said the innovative energy system of the Batangas Refinery would showcase Pilipinas Shell’s commitment to and leadership in the energy transition through the use of cleaner energy technologies in the oil and gas industry.
“Pilipinas Shell takes a broad perspective on the energy transition and will deliver commercially-viable energy solutions to our own sites. This started in our retail business, where there are currently 39 Shell retail stations in the Philippines already fitted out with solar panels and energy efficient equipment” he said.
Pilipinas Shell’s Tabangao Refinery will earn the distinction of being the first oil refinery with an industrial-scale solar farm in the Philippines and one of the largest battery storage projects in Southeast Asia.
Aside from the solar farm, Pilipinas Shell will also install a three megawatt-hour battery energy storage system at its manufacturing site in Tabangao, Batangas City.
Pilipinas Shell will begin the construction of the solar project next month, while the installation of the battery system is scheduled in the second quarter of 2020.
Romero earlier said the company was focusing on energy efficiency projects to reduce the carbon footprint of its local operations.
The company was initially planning to set up a renewable energy company in partnership with local partners, but the plan faced challenges.
“It was challenging because first of all, there is a nationality requirement in being an RE company. And we noticed when we are doing our market scouting, the market is already quite crowded with regards to RE opportunities in solar panels,” Romero said.