MANILA – SP New Energy Corporation (SPNEC) has started the “world’s largest solar project” in the Philippines, it said on Monday.

The solar project is owned by its subsidiary Terra Solar Philippines, Inc. Clearing operations have already started in the 3,500 hectares of land in Nueva Ecija and Bulacan, SPNEC vice chairman Leandro Leviste said in a statement.

More than 5 million solar panels will be installed. The construction of the project’s interconnection with the national grid would also take hold, added Leviste.

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“The first phase of the project is scheduled to be delivered by the first quarter of 2026. To meet this timeline, SPNEC is expediting its site clearing activities,” he said.

The Terra Solar project, the executive said, would be focused around Peñaranda, Nueva Ecija.

“SPNEC has already completed the solar panel installation for the first of its Nueva Ecija solar developments in the same town,” the statement said.

The project aims to have 3,400 megawatts of solar panels and 4,000 megawatt hour (MWh) of battery storage. This alone costs P200 billion, SPNEC said.

Once finished, the firm said it would generate around 5 billion kilowatt-hour (kWh) yearly “or an estimated 5% of the total volume of the Philippine grid and 12 percent of its total demand.”

“This would be larger than India’s Bhadla Solar Park and China’s Golmud Solar Park, currently the world’s largest solar farms at over 2.2 GW,” SPNEC said.

“This would also exceed the capacity of all grid-connected solar projects operating in the Philippines combined at over 1.5 GW,” it added, citing figures from the energy department.

This comes after MGen Renewable Energy, Inc. (MGreen) completed its P15.9-billion investment in SPNEC last Dec. 27, 2023.

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