Laguna de Bay (Laguna Lake) provides food, water, and livelihoods to thousands of Filipinos. Soon, it will also support the largest floating solar farm in the Philippines.
This is good news for a country slouching toward renewable energy.
But there are hidden dangers in tapping this lake for power.
Watch our documentary, Pangako at Panganib sa Laguna de Bay, and find out more:
Laguna de Bay is the largest freshwater lake in the Philippines. Its once clear waters are now spoiled by industrial and human waste, and overrun with fish pens.
It supplies farmed fish to Metro Manila, easing its reliance on captured fish.
It irrigates nearby farmlands and provides livelihoods for around 14,000 fisherfolk.
But the role of the lake doesn’t stop there.
A floating solar farm is being planned by the government, in a bid to ramp up its renewable energy mix.
Like a woman, Laguna Lake has to juggle multiple burdens.
The Laguna Lake Floating Solar Project is a 2,000-hectare floating solar farm on Laguna Lake.
The project is an offshoot of a technical assistance grant to the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to develop a policy framework for floatovoltaics on the lake.
The solar farm will produce 2.5 gigawatts for the Luzon Grid and Laguna Grid. It will power around 2 million homes in Metro Manila and Laguna.
So far, three companies will be building floatovoltaics in the cities of Calamba, Santa Rosa, and Cabuyao; and the towns of Bay and Victoria.
These are Ayala’s ACEN Energy; Singapore’s Blueleaf and billionaire Razon’s SunAsia Solar; and Vena Energy.
The installations are projected to be completed in 2026.
Solar energy is a type of sustainable renewable energy (SRE). It’s now cheaper and its energy source is inexhaustible: the sun. Ground-based solar farms run into issues such as land grabbing and human rights abuses. On the other hand, floating solar panels, or floatovoltaics, are projected to be a less harmful option.
Studies have found that there are pros and cons to floatovoltaics.
Among the benefits associated with this renewable energy production are reduction in GHG emissions, reduced water evaporation, and prevention of harmful algal blooms.
However, covering the water surface with floating solar panels can affect sunlight penetration to the water body and is perceived to increase water temperature, affect the rate of photosynthesis and the concentration of dissolved oxygen, and the distribution of nutrients.
Solar farms are also expensive and require large areas.
The manufacture, transportation, and setting up of solar farms contribute to GHG emissions and air pollution. Moreover, the decommissioned solar panels contain toxic materials and result in land and water pollution. Waste will also be an issue.
The production of solar farms will also jack up the demand for minerals.
There are also impacts on livelihoods.
The panels could potentially block the passage of boats and affect livelihoods. The floating panels could also reduce the fishing area for artisanal fisherfolk.
Fisherfolk, being the main stakeholders of Laguna de Bay, must be consulted on and benefit from the installation of the Laguna floating solar farm.
The project should also lessen its negative footprint on nature and communities.
LRC, with its partners Reboot Philippines and Co-Multiversity, talked to fisherfolk leaders who came up with the following wish list from the energy providers:
· Provide fisherfolk with navigational lanes so they can continue fishing
· Employ fisherfolk for the installation of the panels
· Employ fisherfolk for the upkeep of the solar farm
· Provide profit share to communities
· Regulate waste
These demands typify the redistributive quality of a just energy transition. Renewable energy projects can be vehicles for lifting communities out of poverty.
Consultations with affected communities should also be conducted, and their consent secured, under the pillar of procedural justice.
For LRC, another important aspect of a just energy transition is restorative justice. The solar farm must not add ecological harm to an already injured ecosystem. Circularity will need to be part of the program of energy developers for managing the volume of waste associated with solar panels.
Finally, even as the floating solar farm is being pursued, the government and the private sector must be careful not to exhaust Laguna Lake, like a woman whose work never ends.
Sign the petition here for LRC’s campaign for #JustGoodRenewables, supported by Oxfam Pilipinas.
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