LOCAL renewable energy developer Blueleaf Energy Philippines said it is in talks with two companies to serve as engineering, procurement and construction contractors for its floating solar project in Laguna.
The companies are Xian Electric and Energy China, Pradeep Gopalakrishnan, Blueleaf Energy project manager, said in a briefing Tuesday night.
“We are in talks with others but we are almost finalizing these two here,” Gopalakrishnan said.
The company is constructing the first phase of the project which is being pursued by NKS Solar One, a joint venture between Blueleaf Energy PH and NKS Energy Utilities.
NKS Solar One is developing a 250 megawatts (MW) floating solar project at the Caliraya and Lumot Lakes in Laguna, eyed to be the first utility-scale floating solar project in the Philippines.
Blueleaf Energy said at present, the project has a total cost of $15 billion.
Last September, the project was awarded with a certificate of energy projects of national significance (EPNS) by the Department of Energy (DOE) under Executive Order (EO) 30.
EO 30, signed by former President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017, created the Energy Investment Coordinating Council to streamline the regulatory procedures affecting energy projects of national importance.
Under the implementing rules and regulations of the order, the processing of permits and licenses shall be within a maximum period of 30 days for projects declared as EPNS.
The 30-day deadline starts from the submission of the complete documentary requirements to the relevant agencies involved in the permitting process.
Holders of the said certificate are also presumed to have already complied with the requirements and permits from other government permitting agencies.
NKS Solar One’s 250 MW floating solar project is among those that qualified for incentivized rates under the DOE’s second round of Green Energy Auction Program in 2023.
The project is expected to be online by the first quarter of 2026.
