The power-hungry Luzon grid, which supplies electricity to the National Capital Region of the Philippines, will receive additional supply from three floating solar farms in Laguna Lake within two years. Luzon is the biggest island in the Philippines, an archipelago of over 7,100 islands.
Up to 2,000 hectares of the 91,170-hectare inland lake have been allocated to floating solar projects auctioned off by the Laguna Lake Development Authority with the recommendation of the Philippine Department of Energy (DoE).
Laguna Lake stretches across part of the edges of Metro Manila but mostly surrounds the province of Laguna. The solar projects are planned to be located in 3 cities and 2 towns in the southern and eastern parts of the lake, farthest from where commercial operations are conducted in the lake.
So far, 3 companies have successfully signed contracts which are to be completed with the next two to four years.
ACEN has the biggest share of the grid pie with over 1,000 MW of capacity and 8 contracts. This is followed by the partnership between Blueleaf Energy Asia and SunAsia Energywith 6 contracts and a commitment of 610.5 MW. Vena Energy follows with 270 MW of capacity in one contract.
The total capacity of the 15 floating solar power contracts is 1,880.5 MW, equivalent to the electricity demand of over 2 million homes.
Most of the floating solar power projects in Laguna Lake are predicted to be done by 2026. Once completed, when combined will be the biggest floating solar power project in Southeast Asia.
The floating solar power projects in the inland Lake will supply power to both Metro Manila and Laguna, which are the most power needy grids in the island of Luzon.
According to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, the Metro Manila grid requires around 6,000 MW of power during peak hours. This is the second highest power demand in the country.
The Metro Manila grid is a sub-grid of the 12,235 MW Luzon grid. It covers NCR, which is home to the majority of the country’s population and industries. The Metro Manila grid is also connected to the Laguna grid, which means that power can be shared between the two grids.
Laguna Lake’s floating solar projects are part of the government’s plan to increase the use of renewable energy. The provincial government of Laguna supports solar power as a promising renewable energy source because it is abundant, sustainable, and expected to create many jobs for the locals.
