The US$4bn Terra Solar project will also feature a 4.5 GWh battery energy storage system (BESS). The project is developed by Terra Solar, a subsidiary of Solar Philippines New Energy Corporation (SPNEC).

Changes including allowing full foreign ownership of renewable energy projects have already helped secure a pipeline of 99 gigawatts of wind and solar developments.

Meralco and USNC signed a cooperative agreement in November 2023 to study the deployment of one or more micro modular reactor systems in the Philippines.

Beijing’s agenda in the South China Sea may also be spurred by energy interests

The agreement was signed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Philippine Department of Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla on the sidelines of the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Summit in San Francisco. The signing was witnessed by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.

The Department of Energy said Thursday it issued 40 offshore wind service contracts with a potential capacity of 30,000 megawatts.

The Philippines built a nuclear power plant in the late 1970s, but the project was stopped in 1986, and fuel was not loaded into it.

The Philippines has held its first renewable auction, offering a total capacity of 2,000 MW.

The Philippines spent $2.3 billion on a 621MWe Westinghouse pressurised water reactor at Bataan during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos.

The Philippines has an installed capacity of 26.8 GW (end-2021), with 41% of coal, 17% of oil, 14% of hydro and 13% of gas.