CREC’s Pampanga solar project targets lower system losses

Tycoon Edgar Saavedra-backed Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. and Pampanga I Electric Cooperative have started building what they described as the country’s first embedded solar project integrated with battery energy storage.

The Magalang project will combine a 41-megawatt-peak solar facility with a 53-megawatt-hour battery energy storage system.

“Embedded solar plants, or those directly connected to an electric cooperative (EC) such as PELCO I, potentially reduces systems losses and lowers electricity costs for end users while helping the EC meet their renewable energy sourcing requirements under the government’s Renewable Portfolio Standards,” CREC said in a statement on Friday. 

Construction is targeted for completion in the second half of 2027.

The project forms part of a P4.05-billion Land Bank financing package covering two embedded solar developments.

It will become CREC’s third solar project in Pampanga after the 115-MWp Arayat-Mexico Solar Farm and 42-MWp Citicore Solar Pampanga 1.

—Edited by Miguel R. Camus