Silliman University signed a partnership agreement with an American company to build a 1.2 megawatt solar power generating capacity on campus, enough to serve the total power needs of the University and showcasing the largest school-based solar power project in Southeast Asia.
SU President Dr. Ben S. Malayang III signed the agreement with Reynor Jamandre, president of First Solar Orion on Dec. 18.
Malayang said, “We intend to be producing as much as 1.2 megawatts of solar-based energy. Silliman will be the principal consumer and our partner Orion will be our developer and supplier of energy.”
He said the project is expected to be operational by June.
Jamandre said. “This is the first and biggest direct-use solar power for a large university, covering the 60 hectares of property of the university.”
The installation will come at zero cost to the University, but Silliman is committed to using and paying for as much as 100 per cent of the solar energy generated by Orion.
At peak times, the University uses 1.3 megawatts, including Silliman University Medical Center.
Malayang said the cost for solar energy consumption will be 20 per cent less per kilowatt hour than what it is now paying to Negros Oriental Electric Cooperative II. NORECO II consumes 25 megawatts of electricity for its entire service area.
Jamandre said the solar panels are built to last 25 to 40 years and designed to withstand typhoons of lesser ferocity than Typhoon Yolanda.
Orion’s investment in this project is P100 million of direct foreign investment, he said.
Built into this Silliman project, he added, is Orion’s pledge to provide free solar energy to poor families living around Silliman. “That means it’s not only the University that will be enjoying solar; 240 families to be exact will have free solar lighting,” Jamandre said.
This is consistent with the University’s current partnership program with the Department of Energy which in the last two years provided solar energy to 2,000 homes located in far flung areas outside of the NORECO II power grid.
Malayang said the current project is Silliman’s way of taking the lead in finding alternative energy solutions to climate change.
“This partnership between SU and FSO is our modest way of immediately responding to the agreement in Paris in reducing our carbon-based consumption of energy and hopefully leading the way in expanding the scale of use of non-fossil-based fuels.”
He explained that although Silliman is not the first to adopt solar energy in the city, it is the first institution to use solar on such a scale.
“(What) we’re doing in Silliman is testing the scale of doing solar at more than one megawatt … and (showing) to what extent can we really go up and advance the scale of solarization so that we make significant dents in the use of electricity,” Malayang said.
He said with the addition of solar, the energy mix used by Silliman would be around 80to 90 percent renewable energy.
Jamandre said the clean solar energy generated at Silliman will replace the equivalent of carbon emitted by 240 cars per year for the next 25 years. (Celia E. Acedo, SU REnews)
