Meralco’s first renewable power plant in commercial operation

Milestone in aggressive pursuit of sustainable investments

Meralco marked a significant milestone in its long-term sustainable energy journey on 12 May 2021. The company’s first solar power plant began commercial operations in San Miguel, Bulacan, a province north of Manila.

BulacanSol is a 50-megawatt (“MW”) power plant providing clean and renewable power to the Luzon grid. The 4.25-billion project is a joint undertaking of MGen Renewable Energy, Inc. (“MGreen”), which owns 60% of the project; and PowerSource Energy Holdings Corporation, with 40%. MGreen is the renewable energy unit of Meralco PowerGen Corporation (“MGen”), which in turn is the power generation arm of Meralco.

A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY TRANSITION

Meralco Chairman Manuel V Pangilinan commented, “This is a modest step into renewables but a significant one for Meralco. We look forward to many more investments in renewables, particularly solar, as we attempt to achieve that balance in fuel sourcing, which will ultimately be biased towards renewables.”

“In June 2019, Meralco made the first announcement that it would join the shift to renewable energy and it will adopt sustainable practices for the One Meralco Group. And today, we realize the very first renewable power plant – the first of several that One Meralco has lined up for investment and sourcing,” added Meralco President and CEO Atty. Ray C Espinosa.

TARGETING A 1,500 MW PORTFOLIO CAPACITY

BulacanSol signifies the commitment of One Meralco and PowerSource Group to help ensure energy security through clean, costcompetitive, and sustainable power, PowerSource First Bulacan Solar, Inc. (“PFBSI”) Chairman, and President and CEO of MGen Rogelio L Singson said. “We pledge to continue building more environmentally conscious projects as part of our commitment to a sustainable energy transition for the future generations. As the first operational project of MGreen, BulacanSol is a very important milestone that drives us to aggressively pursue more projects that will help us achieve our target of building a renewable energy portfolio with a capacity of up to 1,500 MW in the next five to seven years.”

Mr. Singson also acknowledged the very strong support BulacanSol received from national government agencies including the Department of Energy, Energy Regulatory Commission, and Department of Public Works and Highways; as well as from the local government unit of San Miguel led by Mayor Roderick Tiongson.