TotalEnergies, Nextnorth move forward with Isabela solar project

FRENCH ENERGY FIRM TotalEnergies and local renewable energy developer Nextnorth said they have reached financial close for a $300-million (P18.44-billion) solar project in Isabela.

In a statement on Tuesday, TotalEnergies said the project involves a 440-megawatt-peak solar power plant.

More than half of the plant’s output will be sold under long-term offtake agreements with retail electricity suppliers AdventEnergy and PrimeRES, which serve commercial and industrial users.

The remaining output will be supplied to the national grid under the project’s award in the fourth round of the government’s green energy auction program.

The project is financed by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., ING Bank NV, and Standard Chartered.

TotalEnergies said the project represents the largest international financing for a solar development in the Philippines to date.

Olivier Jouny, senior vice-president for renewables at TotalEnergies, said the project will contribute to the company’s 9-gigawatt renewable energy portfolio being developed with Masdar through a 50-50 joint venture across nine Asian countries.

“With rising demand and continued exposure to imported fuels, the country needs domestic, scalable, and bankable renewable capacity,” Nextnorth President and Chief Executive Officer Miguel Mapa said.

TotalEnergies is an integrated energy company that produces and markets oil, biofuels, natural gas, biogas, low-carbon hydrogen, and electricity from renewable sources.

Nextnorth is a Philippines-focused renewable energy developer with a pipeline of more than 800 megawatts of projects under development and construction. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera