Levanta wins 166-MWp solar-storage award in Philippines GEA-4 auction round

• Actis-backed Levanta Renewables secured a 166-MWp solar project with battery storage in the Philippines’ GEA-4, adding dispatchable clean capacity to a fast-growing market.

Levanta Renewables, a portfolio company of UK investment firm Actis, has emerged among the winners of the Philippines’ fourth Green Energy Auction (GEA-4) with a 166-MWp solar project that includes a battery energy storage component. The win underlines how the country’s procurement program is shifting from pure megawatts to flexible, grid-supportive capacity able to deliver clean power during the evening ramp as well as at midday.

While site specifics and storage duration have not been disclosed, hybrid configurations in the Philippines typically target two to four hours of battery discharge. That profile soaks up midday solar surpluses and returns them to the grid at high-value peaks, while enabling fast frequency response and voltage support. Co-locating storage with generation shares a single interconnection, trims round-trip losses versus standalone assets, and simplifies dispatch through a unified plant controller.

GEA auctions are engineered to deliver scale and bankability. Winners secure long-term offtake that stabilizes cash flows, de-risks financing, and enables bulk procurement of long-lead electrical gear—transformers, switchgear, and protection systems—that often define schedules. For Levanta, the award should catalyze a repeatable delivery model in the archipelago: standardized tracker-based PV designs, grid-forming inverters, and controls tuned to local code requirements for ride-through and reactive power.

Community and environmental commitments will be central in the development phase. Expect traffic and construction-hours management, storm-water and erosion controls, and biodiversity measures such as species-rich groundcover and hedgerow buffers. For the battery yard, emergency response plans with local fire services, gas detection, and sectionalized suppression systems are now standard requirements for planning and insurance.

Commercially, storage widens the revenue stack beyond energy alone—capacity value and ancillary services can buffer merchant exposure and help projects weather evolving market rules. For the grid operator, hybrid plants reduce curtailment during bright periods and dampen price spikes at dusk, supporting reliability as electrification and digital services lift demand.

Next steps are concrete: final design, equipment tenders, and interconnection milestones leading to staged energization. If executed on cadence, Levanta’s hybrid will deliver not just clean megawatt-hours at noon but dependable megawatts when the Philippines needs them most.