Youil Renewable Energy Corp., the local unit of Youil Ensys of Korea, plans to invest around $160 million on solar projects with a combined capacity of 40 megawatts, a company official said over the weekend.
Scott Kim, Youil Ensys chief executive, told reporters the solar projects included a 30-MW facility near Bacolod City in Negros Occidental and a 10-MW solar station in Bohol province.
“We already have the contract with the land owner, 70 hectares, just the Negros area for 30 MW. We are also looking at another 20 hectares for the target 10 MW in Bohol,” Kim said.
Kim said the company was prepared to start construction of the solar projects as soon as the government approved a tariff system on non-renewable energy projects.
“They haven’t given the answer for the price so we’d like to know. We’d like to push the government [to come out with the tariff],” he said.
He said project construction would take six months.
The FIT refers to a renewable energy policy that offers guaranteed payments per kilowatt-hour to each renewable energy source.
“So without FIT, we cannot proceed with the project. It’s like in Spain, Germany, Korea, Canada, those countries already have FIT program(s) right now. We already invested in Canada. This is our first investment in the Philippines,” Kim said.
Youil Ensys, a mechanical company based in Korea, is listed in the Korea Stock Exchange as a solar power company.
Youil Ensys operates in the environmental engineering industry. It builds and operates solar energy plants.
Kim said the company was prepared to invest in the Philippines and was awaiting approval from the Energy Department.
“We have so far invested only in land price, it’s about P40 million but (the) project cost is $120 million for the 30 MW in Negros and $40 million for the 10-MW Bohol project,” he said.
