LONDON-BASED investment house Actis formalized its $600-million investments in the Philippines for the development of the country's largest single-site solar power project. Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and SP New Energy Corp. signed an agreement with Actis at Meralco's headquarters in Pasig City on Friday for the Terra Solar project, the largest of its kind in the Philippines and in the world. "From Actis' side, we're very honored and excited to invest $600 million into that, which I believe is the largest FDI (foreign direct investment) into the greenfield infrastructure here in the Philippines," said Torbjorn Caesar, Actis chairman and senior partner. The Terra Solar is a 3,500-megawatt solar power project with a 4,500-megawatt-hour battery energy storage system. The project was recently awarded by the Board of Investments with a certificate of green lane endorsement to expedite all permits and licenses related to the project. Emmanuel Rubio, Meralco PowerGen Corp. president and chief executive officer, said Actis' investments support the government's aspiration for a more sustainable energy sector. "We expect our strategic partnership will not only put Philippines in the global spotlight, it will also thrust one Meralco into the international stage as a leader in the renewable energy space to its ownership of the world's largest hybrid solar project, which is poised to power more than 2.4 million households in the Philippines, and displace 4 million tons of carbon dioxide every year," Rubio said. Read The Rest at :