Filipino utility Manila Electric Co., (Meralco) has received what is being called as the lowest rate for solar power projects in Southeast Asia. Local rooftop solar power project installer Solar Philippines bid for a 50 MW solar power capacity offering a rate of P2.34 ($0.044) per kWh, reported local media. The tariff will escalate with passing years after the first year, yet Solar Philippines President is said to have claimed that the average cost of escalation is still significantly lower than P2.98 ($0.056) per kWh.
Meralco had originally tendered the capacity in 2017. Pilipinas Newton Energy Corp., had offered a bid of P2.98 ($0.056) per kWh. Solar Philippines challenged the same and offered a lower bid of P2.34 per kWh. The utility is still evaluating the proposal. According to Business Mirror, Pilipinas Newton now needs to decide if it wants to match the challenge.
Solar Philippines will source the 50 MW power supply from the expansion of its Solar Philippines Tarlac solar power plant which currently has a rated capacity of 150 MW. It wants to scale up the capacity to 450 MW in the next few years, according to The Phil Star.
In August 2017, Solar Philippines opened a 600 MW module fab in the country. Back then it announced plans to scale up the capacity to 800 MW by 2018. Eventually the facility was planned to have 2 GW of annual production capacity (see 600 MW Module Factory Opened In Philippines).