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The Philippines are severely affected by the negative impacts of climate change, so they are particularly interested in playing their part when it comes to the global energy transition. The Government plans to gradually increase renewable power production to 15 GW by 2030. According to this expansion plan, photovoltaics will be mainly used for energy self-supply, which will supply the remote archipelago with electricity.

A reference project reduces costs and protects the environment

Palawan Province is not connected to the national electricity grid and currently still depends on diesel, which has to be delivered by ship on a daily basis. Nevertheless, the tourist island has set itself an ambitious objective: it wants to meet its entire electricity demand from renewable energy sources. This is because environmentally friendly technologies are particularly important in Palawan to protect its largely unspoilt nature, to maintain tourism as its primary source of income and to make it even more attractive.

The German consortium made up of Vis Solis GmbH and Solmotion GmbH seized this opportunity on the Philippine market and set up a reference project as part of the Renewable Energy Solutions Programme of the Deutsche EnergieAgentur (dena) – the German Energy Agency. The companies constructed a 78 kWp PV system on the roof of the new City Hall in the capital, Puerto Princesa. This will reduce energy costs by about 20 per cent, while also reducing CO2 emissions by 71,400 kilograms per year. The inauguration of the system on 24th April 2015 attracted considerable public interest. Among those present were José Alvarez, Governor of Palawan Province, Thomas Ossowski, German Ambassador to the Philippines, and other high-ranking representatives from industry, politics and the media.

About the German project partner

Since 2011 vis solis GmbH, Breesen, has been a joint venture of Solmotion GmbH, Felde, CASAMA GmbH, Koblenz and ARCANO Beteiligungs-GmbH, Breesen. It was established in April 2009 to plan, build and operate photovoltaic systems. In August 2010, the first international subsidiary company of vis solis was established in the USA, in Franklin, Tennessee. The first free-standing system was constructed in 2011. In late 2012/early 2013, in a private-public partnership, an innovative PV project was installed in the framework of the dena Solar Roofs Programme at a former high-security nuclear bomb research site in Oak Ridge Tennessee. Towards the end of 2013, vis solis expanded to the Philippines to participate in the growth of this region.