Aboitiz unit net income hits ₧15.7 billion

BY LENIE LECTURA – NOVEMBER 2, 2021
from Business Mirror

Aboitiz Power Corp. posted a net income of P15.7 billion in January to September, P5.6 billion of which was registered in the third quarter.

The power firm’s nine-month net income shot up by 124 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Third-quarter numbers were 70 percent higher at P5.6 billion versus a year ago.

The power firm attributed the strong performance to commissioning revenue from GNPD Unit 1, higher water inflow from its hydroplants; higher availability of the Thermal Luzon Inc. (TLI), Therma South Inc. and Therma Visayas Inc. facilities; and higher WESM dispatch.

Also, the power firm was able to claim damages for the delay in the construction of GNPD Unit 1 and received final payment for business interruption claims resulting from GNPower Mariveles Center Ltd. Co. and AP Renewables Inc. outages in previous years. Moreover, electricity demand increased during the period after the government relaxed quarantine restrictions.

“Energy demand is continuously picking up as the country recovers from the pandemic. We look forward to the commercial operations of GNPD Unit 1 by end-November this year. This will deliver the much needed energy into the grid to meet the country’s growing demand. Unit 2 is expected to be synchronized by first quarter of 2022,” said AboitizPower President Emmanuel Rubio.

The power firm has lined up a number of new power projects, which are already in various stages of development.  In addition to these new projects, the company’s baseload plants have been performing well above benchmark targets for availability and reliability.  “This is to ensure that while we are aggressively pursuing renewables, we continue to serve the Philippines’ baseload requirements. We remain committed to balancing the reliability, cost-efficiency, and sustainability of our country’s energy system,” said Rubio.

The power firm’s goal is to end with 9,200megawatts (MW) of total attributable net sellable capacity in the next decade. Of which, 4,600MW will come from various renewable energy sources.

To meet the 4,600MW RE capacity target, AboitizPower needs to build around 3,700 MW of additional RE capacity under its Cleanergy portfolio. It is ready to spend P190 billion to add 3,700MW in its RE portfolio.

AboitizPower’s generation and retail supply business recorded EBITDA of P32.3 billion during the three quarters, 27 percent higher from last year.

Capacity sold for the three quarters of 2021 increased by 8 percent to 3,663MW. Energy sold went up by 11 percent to 18,442GWh.

During the same period, the distribution business recorded EBITDA of P6.1 billion, 5 percent higher in the same period last year. Energy sales went up by 5 percent to 4,197GWh, driven by higher energy consumption.

AboitizPower’s total consolidated assets stood at P405.2 billion higher as of end-September.