The Meralco Industrial Engineering Services Corporation (Miescor), a subsidiary of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), partnered with Seochang Electric Communication Co. Ltd. for a research and development project in the Philippines to drive sustainability through the use of clean energy technologies.
Through a research grant from from Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP), Miescor and Seochang will establish an on-grid hybrid power service, involving a 50-kilowatt peak solar photovoltaic (PV) system and a 300-kilowatt-hour energy storage system (ESS) which will serve a Gawad Kalinga community in Cavite.
It is expected to benefit around 200 households in Barangay Hugo Perez in Trece Martires City.
The project will power most commonly used facilities such as the community’s street lights as well as its multi-purpose hall and development center. It will also serve as a potential energy source for electric vehicles in the area.
Project construction is scheduled to commence in September this year with target completion in November 2022.
A performance evaluation and maintenance system will be established prior to full operations targeted in the third quarter of 2023.
Through this project, the groups involved aim to develop a sustainable energy network by utilizing and optimizing used electric vehicle (EV) batteries which are suitable for local electric distribution facilities, while determining ways to provide clean and reliable electricity service to communities.
“We in Seochang, are happy that Miescor partnered with us in this undertaking as we have been looking for the most appropriate and sustainable project that we can be a part of in our Asian neighbors. And this project in the Philippines is, in our opinion, the most deserving one. We fully support this and look forward to expand further to other areas in the Philippine archipelago,” said Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP), said Seochang president Alika Yoon.
Also supporting the implementation of this project are other South Korean entities namely PMGROW Corp., Korea Testing Laboratory, and Korea Energy Convergence Association.
For his part, Miescor president and chief executive officer Ronnie L. Aperocho, said: “We are honored to partner with Seochang and other Korean companies in this initiative as we all share a common goal of bolstering the use of clean energy.”
“This project does not only support One Meralco Group’s sustainability goals, but also, this project most importantly, contributes to a cleaner and more eco-friendly environment, provides electricity to the community, and creates livelihood opportunities,” he added.
Seochang is a Korean company based in Daegu, South Korea, specializing in Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and the construction of various ESSs. It has been supplying watt-hour meters to Meralco for over 10 years.
Meanwhile, Miescor engages in engineering, procurement, and construction services across power infrastructure, renewable energy, electromechanical works, telecommunication infrastructure, and general construction projects.
This undertaking is also aligned with Meralco’s Sustainability Agenda, which is anchored on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Core to this agenda is the company’s just, orderly, and affordable transition to clean energy; and its deployment and use of cleaner transportation alternatives through electric vehicles.
Meralco first vice president and chief sustainability officer, Raymond B. Ravelo also lauded the initiative, saying: “This breakthrough project captures and supports all aspects of Meralco’s sustainability agenda. Beyond providing reliable and accessible POWER through clean and PLANET-friendly technologies, it also improves the well-being of PEOPLE, truly enabling PROSPERITY. This is the essence of Meralco’s thrust to POWER THE GOOD LIFE.”
Other key sustainability initiatives of the Group are the shift to plant-based ester oil for its distribution transformers, and the One for Trees Program, through which Meralco aims to plant five million trees by 2025.
