P6.215 Billion for Solar + BESS: Why Financing Is Becoming the Next Driver of the Philippines’ Energy Transition

The Philippines is continuing to expand its renewable energy infrastructure, with Philippine National Bank (PNB) supporting a major solar-plus-storage project in Iloilo.

Singapore-based renewable energy platform Levanta Renewables has reached

financial close for a 166 MWp solar project paired with an 80 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Barotac Viejo, Iloilo.

The project is backed by a P6.215-billion co-financing package involving PNB, highlighting the growing role of local financial institutions in funding large-scale renewable energy and energy storage projects.

🔋 Solar + BESS Moves Further into the Philippine Grid

Once completed, the project is expected to contribute additional renewable generation capacity to the Visayas grid while using battery storage to support a more flexible and reliable power system.

The project is targeted to begin commercial operations in Q2 2027.

The combination of:

☀️ 166 MWp Solar

• 
  

🔋 80 MWh BESS

shows how solar projects in the Philippines are increasingly being developed together with energy storage rather than as standalone generation assets.

💰 Financing Is Becoming a Key Driver of the Energy Transition

PNB's involvement is also significant from a financing perspective.

PNB Capital and Investment Corporation, the bank's investment banking arm, served as one of the project's arrangers.

PNB said the financing is aligned with its Sustainability Framework and its broader effort to support investments that strengthen:

• Energy security

• Renewable energy deployment

• Sustainable economic growth

The bank has also recently expanded its renewable energy financing portfolio, including a P3-billion project finance facility for an 82-MWp solar project in Isabela.

🌏 Levanta Targets Gigawatt-Scale Southeast Asian Portfolio

The project also fits into Levanta Renewables' wider Southeast Asian strategy.

The company is building a gigawatt-scale renewable energy portfolio across Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, covering:

☀️ Utility-scale solar🌬️ Wind power🔋 Energy storage

This makes the Iloilo project more than an individual solar development.

It is part of a broader trend in Southeast Asia:

Renewable energy developers are increasingly combining solar generation, BESS and institutional financing to build large-scale regional energy portfolios.