SPANISH infrastructure giant Acciona, through its corporate foundation acciona.org, and Ayala Foundation, Inc. are setting up solar power systems in Barangay Sibaltan, an off-grid coastal village in El Nido, Palawan.
The renewable energy project will provide electricity to 100 households, the local school, and community centers in the village with a population of about 2,000.
Sibaltan, which advocates eco-tourism, has several locally-run small resorts, restaurants, and cultural sites such as a traditional boat museum.
“Luz en Casa, that is, Light at Home, is the most important acciona.org initiative, having benefited tens of thousands of people, mainly in Latin America, in the last 13 years. We are proud to launch it in the Philippines,” acciona.org Foundation Director José Gabriel Martín said in a press statement on Monday.
The Light at Home El Nido project will “bring access to affordable, sustainable, and reliable electricity” to a community that had been relying on diesel generators and oil lamps, acciona.org said.
The Sibaltan project, also the first in Asia for acciona.org, is in collaboration with Ten Knots Philippines, AirSWIFT, AC Energy, and Huawei, with support from the local governments of El Nido and Sibaltan.
Acciona’s infrastructure projects in the Philippines include the Putatan II and Laguna Lake DWTP water treatment plants in Muntinlupa, cable-stayed bridge of Cebu (Cebu Cordova Link Expressway), and the Malolos-Clark Railway Line. — MSJ