Aboitiz Power Corp. will focus on putting up floating solar power projects at the Magat, Ambuklao and Binga hydro reservoirs, instead of the Laguna de Bay, a top executive said over the weekend.
Aboitiz Power president Emmanuel Rubio said during the “Powering a Sustainable Future with Cleanergy” webinar they did not consider Laguna de Bay as possible site for floating solar projects.
“I am already expecting that there would be [problems] in Laguna de Bay, so we did not even consider it as an area where we would apply service contracts for. You’d be competing with fish pens I think. We didn’t even investigate,” Rubio said.
“We have our reservoirs in Magat, Ambuklao and Binga anyway. Let’s focus on those,” he said, adding the pilot floating solar project at the Magat reservoir proved feasible.
“We own the power plant and NIA [National Irrigation Administration] owns the reservoir, but we have already an agreement with NIA for us to put up floating solar facilities,” Rubio said.
He said Aboitiz Power and SN Power of Norway proved that their floating solar technology could handle Philippine typhoon grades.
“All of a sudden, when you have 210 to 230 kph wind that goes under it, I think you can say goodbye to your solar panels. But what we have is something that floats in the water, there is no space in between,” he said.
Aboitiz Power earlier said SNAP the Magat floating solar project had technical and commercial viability.
SNAP, a joint venture of SN Power of Norway and Aboitiz Power, switched on the pilot project in June 2019. It was the first non-hydro renewable energy project of SNAP, which was looking at other renewables and complementary technologies to expand its portfolio.
Based on the results of the pre-feasibility studies, phase one of the new project will generate 67 MW. The plan is to install up to 150 MW, depending on the final technical solution and layout.
SNAP invested nearly P24 million for the floating solar facility, which is placed over a 2,500-square meter area over the Magat reservoir.
The project supplies most of the internal household load of the Magat facility, such as the control room, lights and air-conditioning.
The circular floating solar installation”•whose design is inspired by the Amazon water lily”•is made up of 720 solar panels held in place by four mooring systems.
SNAP teamed up with Ocean Sun, a Norwegian floating solar technology provider, on the pilot floating solar project.
