MRC Allied switches on pilot Luzon solar project

As published on The Philippine Star.

MANILA, Philippines — Listed MRC Allied Inc. has inaugurated its pilot solar rooftop project which will power up rice milling plants in north Luzon.

MRC said its wholly owned subsidiary Menlo Renewable Energy Corp. (MREN) inaugurated the 550-kilowatt peak (kWp) solar photovoltaic (PV) project in northern Luzon.

The project, with an estimated cost of P34 million, was installed on a rice mill and is seen to help the agriculture sector by reducing power costs.

MRC said the solar rooftop project complements the day and peaking power requirements of the rice mill.

It also translates to about 30 percent of savings in the rice mill’s electricity bill.

MRC Allied president Augusto Cosio said through the project, the company is not only marking a milestone, but also helping rebuild the agriculture sector as well.

“Today we are not only making history in MREN but for MRC as well. We have finally kicked off our RE portfolio through this pilot project and we are working hard to produce more through our RE subsidiary, MREN,” he said.

The 550-kWp solar rooftop project is the initial development in its solar PV project pipeline of at least four MW, which MRC Allied hopes to complete in the next two years.

MRC said the project is its way of making renewable energy (RE) technologies accessible to other industries such as the agriculture sector.

In the process, MREN and MRC would be able to help in reducing production cost as well as country side development.