A RENEWABLE energy firm with a solar power plant in Toledo City, Cebu is set to construct 15 to 20 more solar power plants in the country in the next five years, the bulk of them in Luzon.Officials of Citicore Power Inc. (CPI) said they plan to expand their operations with the expectation that they can produce 1,500 megawatts (MWs) of power once the plants are up.CPI is the sister company of Megawide Construction Corp.Oliver Tan, CPI’s chief executive officer and president, announced the plan following the successful operation of their 60-MW solar power plant in Barangay Talavera, Toledo City.The Toledo plant, which has been in operation since 2016, is directly supplying electricity to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and can produce electricity for at least 50,000 households.Tan said this has helped to minimize carbon dioxide emissions by about 46,923 tons per year.Aside from its ventures in Cebu, CPI is set to launch its 110-MW Arayat-Mexico solar power plant in Pampanga next week.The power plant, which has been constructed in two phases, forms part of their plan to supply power of up to 1,500 MW in the next five years to power 1.25 million homes.Aside from its plants in Cebu and Pampanga, CPI has existing solar power plants in Bataan (18 MW), Negros Oriental (25 MW), Tarlac (8.8 MW and 7.5 MW), Bulacan (15 MW), Clark (22.3 MW) and South Cotabato (6.2 MW).Meanwhile, CPI has allowed local farmers to use its 60-hectare property in Talavera as a planting site for free.Tan said they will allow the planting of ginger, turmeric, peanuts and other crops whose height won’t affect their solar panels.Tan said their project, which they call “agro solar,” is patterned after the farming methods that they also implemented in five of their other solar power plants in Luzon.Tan said they will first start with one hectare that will serve as a pilot area for planting.More than 60 certified Talavera farmers will benefit from the project.