Filipino company Solar Philippines enters India

The Philippines-based solar major will develop around 500 MW of solar capacity in India, which it describes as having favourable regulatory environment.

February 11, 2019 Uma Gupta

The Solar Philippines Factory is said to be one of the largest and most advanced in Asia, with 2.5 million panels and 800 MW annual capacity.

Solar Philippines/Uma Gupta

Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings, Inc. has ventured into India with a 500 MW solar project, reported BusinessWorld.

“We already have our first project in India,” Leandro L. Leviste, president of Solar Philippines, was quoted as saying in the report. “This year we’ll have around 500 MW of projects in India.”

Solar Philippines claims to be Southeast Asia’s largest solar company and only integrated developer, investor, manufacturer and engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) contractor. It has 300 MW of projects in operation or under construction, and a multi-GW pipeline, including the world’s largest solar projects in off-grid, un-electrified areas.

The company had first unveiled its plan to venture in India last year.

For its project in India, Solar Philippines Power Project is going without any partnership.

Describing India as having a favorable regulatory environment, Leviste said: “The beauty of India is the very low barrier to entry to develop grid-connected power projects in solar parks, as what they are called, with land and transmission provided by the government.”

“So any company in the world, with no local ownership condition can come in and bill P2.00 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), and as long as it is P2.00/kWh, you’ll get a contract,” he was quoted as saying by BusinessWorld.

Terming Solar Philippines’ solar tariffs comparable to those in India, Leviste said the solar power rates in India range between P2 and P3/kWh, although the capacity at stake is in thousands of megawatts. That range compares to the P2.34 per kWh offered by Solar Philippines to distribution utility Manila Electric Co.

Solar Philippines’ target capacity in India will depend on the number of contracts it signs in the Philippines as the balance unused solar panel capacity will be filled by the overseas market, Leviste said in an earlier interview.

The company has annual solar panel manufacturing capacity of 800 MW.

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