Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power is investing $200m to build a large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the Philippines.

The renewables developer finalised the agreement with the Philippine government-owned Bases Conversion & Development Authority (BCDA) on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos last week.

Under the reservation agreement, a 500-hectare site has been selected within the New Clark City Special Economic Zone in Tarlac province, north of Manila.

The project must undergo a pre-feasibility study, technical assessments and regulatory approvals before any final investment decision is made.

The collaboration will also explore “potential battery energy storage system (Bess) integration,” Acwa Power said in a statement.

No details were provided on the project’s potential power generation capacity.

The reservation agreement follows a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Acwa Power and BCDA in Riyadh last November.

Since then, the partners have evaluated multiple locations in New Clark City and shortlisted the 500-hectare site for further technical and commercial evaluation.

Acwa Power said it is targeting a threefold increase in its global assets under management to $250bn by 2030.

The company currently has a global renewables portfolio of 52GW, accounting for 56% of its total power capacity, and plans to deploy 5.6GWh of battery energy storage capacity.

As part of its foreign investment plans, the company also recently signed major agreements for large-scale renewable energy projects in Uzbekistan.

This comprised $1.8bn in financing for the Samarkand solar and battery energy storage project, Uzbekistan’s biggest solar development.

The project is being developed in partnership with Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation, Chubu Electric Power and Shikoku Electric Power.