According to data released by the Department of Energy, the Philippines in 2016 has installed a total of 903 Megawatt of solar power under one of its renewable energy laws. That number is expected to grow as more PV plants are set to open this 2017.
In the DOE summary of renewable energy projects, the country awarded 166 solar projects, including 150 grid-connected and 16 off-grid, with a potential capacity of 4,081 MW (4,077 MW grid-connected) of which only 903 MW was installed. Of the installed capacity, 900 MW is connected to the grid while the off grid projects totaled 3 MW in capacity. The country approved 755 renewable projects with a potential capacity of 16,948.98 MW of which projects totaling 4,521.74 were installed in 2016.
After the Renewable Energy Law was approved in 2008, a surge in RE capacity was seen in the Philippines. The Philippines has set their renewable energy portfolio target of 15.3 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 – almost triple the 5,438 MW installed capacity in 2010.
As of 31 December 2016, there were still 201 solar energy projects with nearly 2,131MW in declared capacity that have pending applications across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
