Urbasolar of France and SunAsia Energy will invest 9 billion pesos ($204 million) to build 100MW of solar power plants in the Philippines.
The first phase is a 30MW plant in Negros Occidental province, construction of which will start in June for completion before the end of the year, SunAsia Energy President Theresa Cruz-Capellan said in an interview. Seventy percent of the project cost will be borrowed from state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines.
"Twelve hours of sunshine is an enormous energy resource to tap," Capellan said by phone. "It's our version of Saudi Arabia's oil fields. You just need to build the plants to harness it."