MARIVELES, Bataan – The Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) announced that a solar power plant will soon rise at the Freeport Area of Bataan in Mariveles town.
AFAB Chairman Deogracias Custodio said he has just signed a contract with Next Generation Power Technology Corp. for the renewable energy project to be built at a 37.5-hectare lot in the former Bataan Economic Zone turned FAB.
NGPT, a Filipino-Korean renewable energy developer, has committed to invest P2 billion for a 20 megawatt solar power plant, the chairman said. “We are happy to add NGPT to the FAB family,” Custodio said. There are more than 60 multinational firms operating at the FAB that started as the Bataan Export Processing Zone.
He said that the project reaffirmed their commitment to innovation and sustainable development that is also expected to become an ecotourism attraction in the area. There are more than 60 multinational firms operating at FAB that started as the Bataan Export Processing Zone.
“We are happy that this project is finally pushing through at the FAB. They offered us a very good location for the solar power plant and we can enjoy incentives that we need to be able to start the project smoothly,” NGPT CEO Charles Park for his part said.
The investment project furthers AFAB’s efforts to meet the renewable energy goals set by the Philippine government, Custodio said. Republic Act 9513 or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 promotes the acceleration of development and utilization of renewable energy resources such as solar energy sources to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
Gov. Albert Garcia welcomed the agreement and thanked NGPT for its choice of Bataan. The governor while still congressman of Bataan’s Second District was principal author of the law that created AFAB. The Freeport continues to increase its investments record every year. For 2013, the FAB recorded P2.1B worth of investments,
surpassing significantly the P390.6M worth of investments in 2012, Garcia said.
Other investments approved in 2013 included companies in the manufacturing, BPO, ship building and repair facility sectors.
