Terra Solar Project (3500MW)

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Terra Solar project comprises the development of a solar PV plant and an energy storage system, located in Nueva Ecija and Bulacan Provinces, Philippines. The capacity of the solar power plant is 3,500MW and the one of the energy storage system is 4,000MWh. It is expected to generate more than 5 billion kWh of electricity yearly. The sponsors of the project are SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC) - a unit of Meralco (Philippines), holding 60%, and Actis (UK), holding 40$, of the Terra Solar project company. The investment is around $3.389 billion (P200billion). (Sources vary within $3.2 - $4 billion range of the total cost.) $600m (approximately P34 billion) were secured with the investment of Actis. The rest of the sum is Meralco investment. The debt:equity ratio is claimed to be 75:25, but the debt funding sources have not been disclosed. Once fully operational by 2027, Terra Solar facility will deliver solar power to the Luzon grid, with 4,500 megawatt-hour of battery energy storage. A 13-kilometer, 500-kilovolt transmission line will connect this project to the power grid, ensuring that clean energy reaches Filipino homes and businesses with efficiency. The project will initially connect to the existing 500-kilovolt (kV) Nagsaag-San Jose Transmission Line and will eventually be integrated with the upcoming 500-kV Nagsaag-Marilao Transmission Line. Engineering, Procurement, and Construction contract has been signed with major energy player China Energy Engineering Group Co., Ltd. (Energy China). Investment banking companies Morgan Stanley and UBS Asia-Pacific led Actis’ transaction for Terra Solar. The first phase of the project is scheduled to be delivered by 2026, while Phase 2 is targeted for 2027. Established in 2020, Terra Solar was a 50-50 joint venture between Prime Infrastructure Capital, Inc. and Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings, Inc., the parent firm of SPNEC. SPNEC took full control of Terra Solar after acquiring the entire stake of Prime Infra last year for P6 billion. SPNEC is now controlled by the Pangilinan group, through MGen Renewable Energy, Inc., the renewable energy development arm of MGen, a wholly owned subsidiary of Meralco. Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT Inc. https://www.power-technology.com/news/actis-600m-philippines-terra-project/?cf-view ; https://www.enerdata.net/publications/daily-energy-news/philippines-starts-construction-35-gw-terra-solar-project.html ; https://www.bworldonline.com/corporate/2024/09/09/619675/meralco-closes-doors-to-new-investors-for-terra-solar-project/ ; https://www.philstar.com/business/2024/11/02/2396954/terra-solar-development-slightly-ahead-schedule ; https://www.energy-storage.news/philippines-government-fast-tracks-worlds-largest-solar-and-storage-project-with-4-5gwh-bess/ ; https://www.pvtime.org/3-5gw-pv-4-5gwh-es-terra-solar-project-to-be-launched-in-the-philippines/ ; https://asian-power.com/news/meralco-increases-stake-in-sp-new-energy-13332m ; https://company.meralco.com.ph/corporate-profile/meralco-shareholding-structure