The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has been at the forefront of promoting renewable energy (RE) in the country. One RE project that the Bank has been supporting is the 22.326 MW Solar Power Plant located in the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, Central Philippines, whose development has been initiated by the Enfinity Philippines Renewable Resources, Inc. (EPPRI), the country’s first solar power plant in a Freeport Zone.

The project, which is part of the Department of Energy (DOE) Philippines Solar Power Procurement Program under the Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) mechanism, was endorsed by the DOE to obtain a guaranteed purchase of the energy generated from the power plant for 20 years at FIT rate of Php 8.53 per kWh. The output power is delivered to Clark Electric Distribution Corporation’s 69kV distribution system. Registered in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, the solar power plant delivered its generated power to the Luzon Grid.

The development of the solar power project will displace fossil-fuel generating power plants resulting to a reduction in the country’s oil importation and the conservation of its dollar reserves given the increased access to renewable sources of electricity. The project does not generate known air pollutants such as sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) and avoids emission of greenhouse gases that contributes to global warming, which conforms with the Sustainable Development Goals 7 (affordable and clean energy) and in accordance with the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 in which the Philippine Government intends to facilitate the transition from fossil fuel-based electricity generation to renewable energy-based electricity generation, and to make renewable energy investments competitive in the country.

Other benefits that the project generates includes the creation of around 25,000 new employment opportunities for the local community, including farmers and indigenous people; and direct contribution to the local economy through increased taxes and commerce.

DBP’s project “Advancing the Use of Renewable Sources through Freeport Zone: Enfinity Philippines Renewable Resources Inc.” won the 2019 ADFIAP Outstanding Development Project Awards under the environmental development category.