PHILIPPINES’ FIRST AND BIGGEST SOLAR-POWERED SUBDIVISION, POWER PLANT TO RISE IN BATANGAS December 02, 2014 Batangas is going green. As one of the richest Philippine provinces, Batangas continues to attract foreign investors, and will attract more tourists once the first ever Philippine solar-powered subdivision is completed in Sto. Tomas town. Imperial Homes Corp. (IHC), a local real estate company, has collaborated with Enfinity Group, a Belgian solar power company, for the development of the first ever solar-powered mass housing project in the Philippines. The project according to source will attract more tourists once completed and the whole idea is compared to Bangui Windmills, Pagudpud in terms of tourism revenue. The 1000 units of solar-powered houses will be fitted inside the 3-hectare land according to IHC. Each house will be equipped with 500 watts solar panels that could dramatically reduce power consumption by large percent. IHC addedd that the project could make the country one step closer to renewable source of energy in coming years. In a separate news, Amrican solar company SunSolar is also eying to build a 50-megawatt solar powerplant in Nasugbu Batangas. The project will be the first and biggest in the Philippines and will be included in the lists of biggest solar power plants in the world according to SolarSun. Currently, there are 5 operating solar power plants in the world with 50-megawatt capacity, that is good for 10th place. Mojave Solar Project in US is the biggest with 280 MW. The plant will provide electricity to 75% of Batangas consumers and 20% of Cavite. SolarSun with its local partner. TransElectric said the project is the answer to Batelec and Meralco unreasonabe ans unscheduled power interruption, and high cost of electricity. The plant is expected to hire more than 5,000 employees that include engineers, line men, office workers, and beach and resort workers. Groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled on July 2015. The plant will cover 5 hectaes of undeveloped beach. The solar panels will be installed both offshore and onshore according to the source. The company will also develope another 2 hectares for resort as tourists will be epected to storm the place once the project is completed.