The Philippine government has identified solar plants as a critical component of their energy security strategy, accelerating the country’s energy transition. However, solar farms often compete with agricultural development for flat lands. To address this, our client, AboitizPower, a company specialising in power distribution, generation and retail electricity services, creatively sought alternative terrain options, such as mountain land, for developing a 90MW solar power plant covering 1,960,000m².  

As the go-to expert in infrastructure works, Arup acted as the owner’s engineer. Leveraging our familiarity with the local climate and site conditions, we assessed the site to identify optimal locations to position panels for maximum solar yield. 

To expedite the best panel positioning on the undulating and vast terrain, we developed an in-house automated tool for generating the optimal layout of the plant. The automated layout system tracks all individual panel data, providing crucial information for decision-making and maximising the panels’ performance. 

We also recommended to the client the implementation of hillside restorations around the facility to improve slope stability, reduce soil erosion and promote the re-establishment of secondary forests and hillside vegetation. 

The solar farm has become the first-of-its-kind hillside solar farm in the Philippines, building up the country’s renewable energy capacity and ensuring its energy security. Our multidisciplinary intelligent workflow for quick terrain assessment and streamlined design optimisation has been awarded the top prize in the Energy Transition & Sustainability, Service & Solutions and Survive & Thrive/Optimisation categories at the Energy Industries Council (EIC) APAC Regional Awards 2023.The intelligent workflow and expertise developed can be applied to similar projects worldwide, driving global energy transition. Moreover, the project not only generates clean energy but also enhances land usability by mitigating erosion and creates local employment opportunities.

Geotechnical engineering and geotechnics services 

Our geotechnical experts and engineering geologists conducted a thorough assessment and identified streams, existing vegetation, unstable terrain and erosion-prone areas that should be avoided. Additionally, our team pinpointed suitable hillside ridges and terrain for solar table installation and access. 

We carefully selected the alignment of the access road to minimise environmental impact of construction and avoid disturbance to the surrounding areas.

Digital services 

Our GIS specialists collaborated with our engineering geologists and terrain experts to generate overlay maps depicting slope angles, slope aspects and topography. These 3D maps provide valuable information on the terrain’s opportunities and constraints, enabling design automation and optimisation of PV panel tables and array layouts, tailored to maximise solar exposure and energy yield for the site.