By Juzel L. Danganan
MANILA, Sept. 22 (PNA) – Fujisan Solar and Wind Energy Corp., has expressed interested in developing solar and wind projects in Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) areas, the off-grid power plants managed by the National Power Corp. (NAPOCOR).
”Right now — it depends – in order to operate in SPUG areas they should have consistent supply. We will be doing that as well,” Fujisan chairman Joseph Maddatu told reporters.
Fujisan Solar and Wind Energy Corp., is a joint venture of local IT solutions provider We Are IT (WIT) Philippines, Inc. and Japanese developer Eguchi Holdings Co., Ltd.
Maddatu added SPUG areas are “one of the things that are close to our heart”, as WIT Philippines earlier provided satellite connectivity for SPUG areas.
Katsuyoshi Eguchi, president of Eguchi Holdings, said that they would take a look at the opportunity in the SPUG areas.
Currently, the firm plans to develop solar power plants in chicken farms with a capacity of 300 kilowatts (kW).
Fujisan’s current long-term target, on the other hand, is to build solar projects with a capacity of at least 5 megawatts (MWs) in the next two to three years. About 1-2 MWs are expected to be completed before March 2016, which will allow it to avail of the Php 8.69 per kWh Feed-in-Tariff (FIT).
NAPOCOR is currently looking into developing hybrid power plants, with diesel as one of the current prevailing power source along with an installation of either solar or wind farms.
Through proper time shifting of the two power sources, the project is expected to lower the electricity prices of the islands and lower the subsidy provided by grid connected customers. (PNA)