EPI boosts capex to P10.3B for renewable expansion

EMERGING POWER, INC. (EPI), the renewable energy subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC), has allocated up to P10.3 billion in capital expenditures (capex) this year as it expands its solar and battery energy storage system projects.

EPI’s projected capex represents about 88% of NAC’s total budget for the year and exceed last year’s P7.6-billion allocation, based on the company’s presentation.

Among its pipeline, EPI plans to energize the initial phase of its solar power project in Botolan, Zambales, which has a capacity of 45 megawatts (MW).

EPI’s joint venture with Shell Overseas Investments B.V., which covers Phase 1 of the San Isidro, Leyte solar project, was energized last year and is set to add 120 MW this year.

For next year, EPI plans to complete the initial phase of its 145-MW solar project in Zambales and the 50-MW solar farm in Hermosa, Bataan.

“We want to focus first on our existing pipeline of solar projects, make them more viable and more economic by integrating battery energy storage systems,” EPI President and Chief Executive Officer Roy Joseph S. Fernandez told reporters on Friday.

Mr. Fernandez said energy storage projects can extend power delivery and help address the intermittency of solar plants, which depend on sunlight for generation.

“I think you’ll see more and more players shifting to renewable energy because that’s what the country needs. And aside from geothermal and hydro, the only way you can produce electricity reliably, in a sustained way, is through solar and battery,” he said.

He added that the company is also exploring the development of a hydropower project in Isabela and Davao Oriental.

EPI currently operates with a total capacity of 172 MW. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera