AJUY, ILOILO — In a few weeks, the 47.86‑hectare expanse of solar panels stretching across Barangay Tipacla will hum to life, and Panay Island will never have generated electricity the same way. The 62‑megawatt peak Ajuy Solar Project of SOLARIS is now more than 90 percent complete and on track to begin commercial operations in June 2026. Once energized, it will become the largest solar power plant on Panay, strengthening grid reliability while delivering competitively priced renewable energy directly into the Visayas electricity network.
The project has been recognized by the national government and the Department of Energy as an Energy Project of National Significance, a designation reserved for large‑scale developments that materially advance the country's power infrastructure. It forms part of the government's Green Energy Auction Program, a mechanism designed to accelerate the country's renewable energy transition and meet the targets set in the DOE's Power Development Plan 2023–2050, which calls for 35 percent renewable energy in the power generation mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040. SOLARIS said the facility is projected to strengthen power supply reliability on Panay, an island that has experienced recurring grid instability.
A Construction Workforce of 700, a Community Transformed
At the peak of construction, the project employed more than 700 workers, many drawn from Ajuy and the surrounding municipalities of northern Iloilo. The infusion of wages into the local economy during the build phase was immediate, circulating through sari‑sari stores, palengkes, and tricycle terminals in a municipality whose primary economic identity has long been tied to agriculture and fisheries. SOLARIS confirmed that additional jobs and long‑term opportunities are expected once the facility enters its operational phase, as maintenance crews, security personnel, and technical staff will be needed for the plant's decades‑long lifespan.
The Ajuy project is the first major ground‑mounted solar facility in Iloilo province. Its scale—62 MWp across nearly 48 hectares—positions it as a reference point for the larger solar developments now advancing through regulatory and permitting processes across the province. The company acknowledged the strong support of the Municipal Government of Ajuy, the Provincial Government of Iloilo under Governor Arthur Defensor Jr., partner agencies, and host communities. The project underwent required regulatory, permitting, land reclassification, and land conversion processes in accordance with applicable national and local requirements.
A Province Positioning Itself as the Visayas' Clean Energy Capital
The Ajuy plant is not an isolated development. It is the most advanced piece of a broader renewable energy buildout that is quietly reshaping Iloilo's economic geography. A 120‑MW solar farm has been proposed in Concepcion, to be developed by MGen Renewable Energy Inc. in partnership with Saudi‑based ACWA Power. Vivant Energy is advancing a 173.1‑MWp solar‑plus‑battery‑storage project in Anilao. The Department of Energy has fast‑tracked 22 renewable energy projects across Western Visayas, spanning solar, hydro, biomass, and wind. Each project adds generating capacity to the grid, but together they signal a structural shift: Iloilo is emerging as the Visayas' most concentrated hub for renewable energy investment.
For businesses evaluating where to locate, grid reliability and power costs are increasingly decisive variables. A province that hosts its own utility‑scale solar generation is a province that can offer locators a cleaner, more stable, and potentially more affordable electricity supply than one dependent on imported fossil fuels. Iloilo's property market has already outpaced Metro Cebu in total occupied office transactions for the first time, and its residential take‑up rates lead the Visayas‑Mindanao region. The Ajuy Solar Project, by strengthening the grid and signaling to investors that the province has the infrastructure to support continued growth, reinforces the case for Iloilo as both a real‑estate destination and an industrial location.
