The Energy Regulatory Commission has approved an application from Giga Ace 8 Inc. (GA8) to connect its 237-megawatt solar power project in Zambales to the grid through a direct connection to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines’ 230-kilovolt Botolan substation.
The ERC authorized GA8, a unit of ACEN Corp., to construct a dedicated point-to-point limited facility to connect the solar plant to the grid at a cost of P2.835 billion.
“The capacity of GA8SPP will help address the increasing energy demand and the same is consistent with the Philippine government’s call to accelerate the exploration and development of renewable energy resources,” the ERC said.
The power generated by the project, targeted for March 2026, is intended to be dispatched as a merchant plant through the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market and may eventually enter into sales arrangements with retail electricity suppliers.
The new capacity will be subject to generation curtailment and dispatch prioritization until the NGCP completes the Western Luzon 500kV Backbone (Stage 2), Palauig 500kV substation and San Fabian 230kV substation projects, the ERC said.
“For GA8 to commence commercial operations… it must first be connected to the grid. Thus, the development of the subject facilities is necessary to enable the said connection,” the commission said
The ERC authorized GA8 to construct a facility composed of two 170-megavolt-ampere, 230/33kV take-off substations and a 22-kilometer, 230kV double circuit mounted on steel towers.
The commission found that these assets are dedicated point-to-point limited transmission facilities because their removal would only disconnect the GA8 plant.
However, the ERC denied GA8’s application to construct a second facility involving assets inside the NGCP’s Botolan 230kV substation.
The regulator ruled that those specific assets are transmission assets rather than dedicated connection assets.
Because they are located within the high-voltage switchyard of an existing NGCP substation, the ERC said GA8 is not authorized to develop or own them.
“NGCP should construct said facilities in accordance with the facility study it approved,” the ERC said, noting that the second facility is already included in the NGCP’s capital expenditure projects.
