MARIVELES, Bataan, Feb. 1 (PNA) — A P2-billion solar power plant will soon rise at the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) in this town.
Deogracias Custodio, chairman of the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), said the 20-megawatt power plant will be built at a 37.5-hectare land in the former Bataan Economic Zone turned FAB.
Custodio said he has signed a contract with Next Generation Power Technology Corp. (NGPT), Filipino-American renewable energy developer.
“We are happy to add NGPT to the FAB family,” he said.
At present, there are more than 60 multi-national firms operating at the FAB that started as the Bataan Export Processing Zone, the first established in the country.
Custodio said that the project reaffirmed the company’s commitment to innovation and sustainable development.
He also expected the project to become an eco-tourism attraction in the area.
“We are happy that this project is finally pushing through at the FAB. They offered us a very good location for the solar power plant and we can enjoy incentives that we need to be able to start the project smoothly,” NGPT CEO Charles Park, for his part, said.
The investment project furthers AFAB’s efforts to meet the renewable energy goals set by the Philippine government, Custodio said.
Republic Act 9513 or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 promotes the acceleration of development and utilization of renewable energy resources such as solar energy sources to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
Gov. Albert Garcia welcomed the agreement and thanked NGPT for its choice of Bataan.
The governor, when still congressman of Bataan’s second district, was principal author of the law that created AFAB.
The Freeport continues to increase its investments record every year.
For 2013, the FAB recorded P2.1 billion worth of investments, surpassing significantly the P390.6 million worth of investments in 2012, Garcia said.
Other investments approved in 2013 included companies in the manufacturing, business process outsourcing (BPO), ship building and repair facility sectors. (PNA)