Alternergy Holdings Corp. said Monday its subsidiary is nearing completion of its solar and battery storage project in Palau.
“Our Palau solar PV plus battery storage project is already 65-percent complete. We expect to commence commercial operations by April 2023,” Alternergy and Solar Pacific Energy Corp. chairman Vince Pérez said.
Pérez made the announcement during the visit of a high delegation team from the governments of Palau and Australia on Dec. 15.
The Palau project is under Solar Pacific Pristine Power Inc., the maiden foray of the Alternergy Group into the international energy market. SPPP is a subsidiary of Solar Pacific.
The hybrid project has a capacity of 15.3-megawatt solar and 12.9-megawatt-hour battery energy storage systems with technologies coming from top-tier global manufacturers.
“Our Palau project builds a strong partnership with the governments of Palau through a long-term power supply agreement with the Palau Public Utilities Corp. and with Australia through project financing under the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific,” Solar Pacific chief executive Mike Lichtenfeld said.
PPUC and SPPP signed a 20-year PSA, extendible for another five years.
Export Finance Australia, through the AIFFP, extended a total financing package of $22 million for the project.
“Alternergy and Solar Pacific saw the opportunity to explore the electricity market outside the Philippines, and we are honored to be the first independent power producer in the Republic of Palau,” Pérez said.
He said the opportunity to provide renewable power to the Republic of Palau is consistent with Alternergy’s vision to power the islands with renewable energy resources.
The Palau project will provide up to 23,000 MWh of clean and renewable power to Palau, representing more than 20 percent of its annual energy demand, to help achieve its renewable energy target of 45 percent by 2025.
“Our Palau hybrid project is also one of the biggest direct foreign investments in Palau with a project cost of $29 million and is generating local employment and tax revenues to the country,” Lichtenfeld said.
Pérez welcomed to the project site in Ngatpang the delegation from the Republic of Palau led by President Surangel Whipps Jr. and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Gustav Aitaro and from the Australian government led by Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong; Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy; Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Senator Simon Birmingham; Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific Michael McCormack and Australian Ambassador to the Republic of Palau Richelle Turner.
Solar Pacific is developing the 20-MW Solana solar power project in Central Luzon which is expected to start construction by 2023.
Alternergy aims to develop up to 1,370 MW of additional wind, offshore wind, solar and run-of-river hydro projects.