Aboitiz BESS starts operations
BY LENIE LECTURA – DECEMBER 1, 2022
from Business Mirror
Therma Marine Inc., a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corp. (AboitizPower), announced on Wednesday the start of the commercial operations of its first battery energy storage system (BESS).
Located in Maco, Davao de Oro, Therma Marine said the 49-megawatt (MW) BESS is “the first of its kind in Southeast Asia to be built on a floating platform.” This, it added, is a model for future battery investments and hybrid renewable energy projects.
“AboitizPower sees battery technology as a great opportunity to address concerns about the reliability, affordability, and sustainability of energy supply,” AboitizPower President and CEO Manny Rubio said. “We respond to the needs of our customers and communities while supporting economic growth by ensuring the stability of the grid.”
The Maco facility is among 12 projects with a total capacity of 248 MW for regulating and contingency reserves that AboitizPower is targeting to develop within this decade.
A BESS is a type of energy storage that uses a set of batteries to store electrical energy when there is a supply surplus in the Grid and released when customers need power the most. The BESS will complement TMI’s existing diesel engines by providing ancillary services to sustain the transmission capacity and energy that are essential in maintaining the power quality, reliability, and security of the Mindanao grid.
Another AboitizPower BESS project under SN Aboitiz Power Group (SNAP) is the 24-MW Magat BESS project at the SNAP Magat hydroelectric power plant in Ramon, Isabela. The Magat BESS began construction last August and is expected to start commercial operations in the first quarter of 2024.
In addition to its entry into the battery market, AboitizPower’s growth strategy in the next decade will also be significantly driven by renewable energy.
In the next 10 years, the company will significantly expand its Cleanergy portfolio, in support of the government’s efforts to promote renewable energy in the country. It vowed to build an additional 3,700 MW of renewable energy, growing its existing Cleanergy capacity threefold by 2030.
