Vietnamese company VinEnergo and Filipino developer SunAsia Energy have agreed to build 422MW of solar power distributed across three sites in the Philippines, using a design that raises panels on steel piles above active fish ponds rather than floating them directly on the water.
The approach is intended to allow fish farming to continue under the panels without interruption, and address conflict over water use and fishing rights that has slowed similar floating solar projects elsewhere in Southeast Asia. VinEnergo is the energy arm of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, and the deal marks the company’s first venture in the Philippines.
how Solar on stilts Different from floating solar
Traditional floating solar panels are usually installed on plastic rafts that rest directly on the surface of the water, shading the water beneath them and raising concerns about their impact on aquatic life. According to the joint announcement from VinEnergo and SunAsia Energy, the system used in this project, described as Solar on Stilts, instead drives steel piles to the bottom of the pond and installs panels on top, keeping the water column below largely open so boats can pass and fish farming can continue undisturbed.
This steel, pile-supported structure was also chosen with the Philippines’ location in mind, as the country is located within the typhoon belt, where a fixed structure driven into the seabed can generally withstand extreme weather conditions better than a pontoon-based system that floats on the surface.
Where the three solar power plants will be built
The maximum capacity of 422 MW is divided into three separate sites. According to solar industry publication PV Tech, the largest plant, with a capacity of 181 MW, is scheduled for construction in Macabebe in Pampanga province north of Manila, while the remaining two plants are located in Negros Occidental in the Visayas region, a 126 MW peak site in Sagay and a 115 MW peak site in Silay.
Together, the three sites will use approximately 700,000 solar panels, supported by approximately 62 kilometers of new transmission line built to connect the stations to the grid.
What companies expect the final project to deliver
According to the same joint announcement by VinEnergo and SunAsia Energy, the two companies expect the completed plants to power about 278,000 homes once operational and reduce carbon emissions by more than 460,000 tons per year, a figure the companies compare to the equivalent of planting about 21 million trees.
The companies also state that the project is expected to generate more than $1.5 billion in revenue over its lifetime.
The deal was signed on June 26 in Hanoi, where VinEnergo CEO Nguyen Anh Khao and SunAsia CEO and Chairman Tetchi Capellan signed the agreement, with the plants scheduled to be commissioned in 2027 and 2028.
Why was the project announced during a signing witnessed by officials?
The agreement was signed in the presence of Philippine Energy Secretary Sharon Garin and Vietnamese Ambassador to Manila Lai Thai Binh, according to the joint declaration.
The signing was also made while the Philippines was hosting the ASEAN summit, giving the deal a diplomatic dimension as well as a commercial one. Tetchi Capellan described the model as one in which food production and clean energy generation can work together, according to the private companies’ statement, while VinEnergo framed the approach as an extension of its experience in Vietnam to protect local livelihoods while expanding energy generation.
Why the Philippines is turning to water to generate solar energy
The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands, and most of its available flat land is already used for agriculture, leaving limited space for utility-scale solar development on land alone. This is not SunAsia’s first attempt to combine solar energy with existing aquaculture. In 2023, the company and its partner BlueLeaf Energy secured the rights to develop 1.3 GW of floating solar capacity across Laguna Lake, the country’s largest freshwater lake, in a project covering about 1,000 hectares that will be implemented in phases until 2030.
The VinEnergo partnership expands this approach beyond one large lake and to aquariums operating in two separate provinces.
What still needs to be done before construction begins
As of the signing, construction has not yet begun. The agreement marks the beginning of a period of approximately eighteen months covering engineering works, technology selection and contractor arrangements before the expected start of physical construction, with commissioning planned for 2027 and 2028. ING advised VinEnergo on the deal, while SGV and Co. Advising SunAsia Energy. Whether the pile-supported design works as expected on a large scale across three separate sites, and whether fish farming activity continues seamlessly under the panels once built, remains to be proven as the project moves from agreement to construction over the coming months.
