Philippines

The first phase of the MTerra solar project in the Philippines, set to be the world’s largest solar-plus-storage site once completed, has achieved initial synchronization and energization to the Luzon grid. Project developers are anticipating the project to being exporting power by the end of the month.

The Philippines has unveiled plans for its next four green energy auctions, one of which will focus on rooftop solar and solar-plus-storage in selected areas of the country. Another forthcoming auction will concentrate on solar on canals, agrisolar and solar on stilts over fish ponds.

The government of the Philippines has announced a series of reforms to its net-metering scheme, including faster permitting, the introduction of multi-site and aggregate net-metering, as well as allowing qualified end users to retain ownership of Renewable Energy Certificates for trade on the Renewable Energy Market.

The 6.55 MW project, hailed as the world’s first grid-connected, solar rooftop project within a social housing community, equipped almost 2,000 houses with solar panels.

The Philippines Department of Energy (DOE) says its fourth green energy auction marks a shift from pilot to mainstream deployment, with final approvals raising total capacity across solar, wind, and storage projects to nearly 10.2 GW, including 4.1 GW of ground-mounted and 2.2 GW of floating solar.

Manila Electric Company (Meralco), via its subsidary MGen Renewable Energy Inc, has increased its stake in SP New Energy Corporation (SPNEC) after the transfer of 10.8 billion exchangeable shares in a deal valued at PHP 13.76 billion ($233.5 million). The company is working on the world’s largest solar-plus-storage project currently under development.

The energy regulator of the Philippines has approved an increase in the feed-in tariff allowance (FIT-All) to PHP 0.2073 ($0.004)/kWh from PHP 0.1189, with the new rate set to take effect next month.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) of the Philippines has given the MTerra Solar Project permission to develop its own dedicated transmission facilities and connect to the Luzon grid. The first phase, encompassing 2.5 GW of solar and 3.3 MWh of battery storage, is due for completion in 2026.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) says the cost of capital for solar remains higher in Southeast Asian countries than it does in other emerging and developing economies.

The International Energy Agency’s latest report says solar and wind energy are well placed to meet Southeast Asia’s growing electricity demand. It adds that while additional deployment will create flexibility challenges, most countries in the region can integrate more solar and wind energy without requiring major system changes.