Philippine 28-year-old looks to build Southeast Asia’s biggest solar farm

Leandro Leviste, the Ivy League-educated son of a prominent Philippine congresswoman, plans to build a 500-megawatt plant north of Manila

The project would increase the country’s solar capacity by almost 50 per cent and be able to power about 800,000 homes when completed

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Photovoltaic panels being installed at a solar power plant. A planned new project in the Philippines would increase the country’s solar capacity by almost 50 per cent. (Photo: Chinatopix via AP

Published: 1:20pm, 16 Nov 2021

The Ivy League-educated son of a prominent Philippine congresswoman wants to build the largest solar power plant in Southeast Asia using proceeds from an initial public offering next month.

Leandro Leviste, 28, will seek to raise as much as 2.7 billion pesos (US$54 million) by selling shares in Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp., a unit of his Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings Inc.

The funds will go toward constructing the first phase of a 500-megawatt plant in a province about 130km (81 miles) north of Manila. That would increase the country’s solar capacity by almost 50 per cent and be able to power about 800,000 homes when completed. The offering comes as the Philippines haltingly moves away from fossil fuels.

“Solar is no longer a marginal piece of the energy mix but will comprise a majority of new capacity,” Leviste, the CEO, said in an interview.

The offering period for the unit will be December 1 to December 7, with trading beginning December 17 on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Leviste’s mother is Loren Legarda, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives and a candidate for vice-president. His father was the governor of Batangas province outside Manila.