AboitizPower eyeing to hike investments in RE projects

Aboitiz Power Corp. has identified opportunities that would boost its renewable energy (RE) portfolio in order to hit a 50:50 balance between thermal and renewables by 2030.

Aboitiz Power President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel V. Rubio said during a virtual press briefing last Friday that the company is working on several RE projects with a primary focus on solar, wind, and hydro.

It recently completed the commissioning of two wind met masts in Pangasinan and targets to start construction on a 50-megawatt (MW) solar project in Central Luzon within the second half of the year.

In addition to 815 MW of service contracts already secured and in various phases of development, the company is also identifying and evaluating additional pipeline projects, most of which are based in Luzon. Current activities are focused on permitting, feasibility studies, and tendering.

At end-2020, the power firm recorded 4,429MW of capacity. Of which, 79 percent accounts for thermal and 21 percent renewables. It is targeting to grow its capacity to more than 9,000MW in 10 years.

“We aim to double our current fleet size. We will selectively build baseload capacities, with options of either coal or gas. We still have those options especially in our brownfield sites. We are really looking at, and very seriously, as gas as the next option. We will pursue our international aspirations with focus on RE in high growth, geographic markets,” said Rubio.

He identified possible sites for its planned LNG (liquefied natural gas) project. These include Pagbilao, Quezon; Mariveles, Bataan; and Subic, Zambales. “We’re at the stage where we’re looking project development but initially just looking at feasibility studies based on the sites we’ve identified as possible locations.”

AboitizPower, through Therma Luzon, Inc. is the independent power producer (IPPA) of the Pagbilao coal-fired power plant. “By February 2026, Pagbilao will be turned over to us. That site is a potential site for gas.”

The company is also exploring, together with partners in GN Power, if it can actually buy land in Mariveles for that possibility, as well.

Rubio mentioned the site where RP Energy is building a coal plant in Subic. Therma Power Inc. holds a 25-percent stake in RP Energy. “Given that we’ve had some issues with the geological condition of the site, it could be a site for a small LNG unit.”

The company is also pursuing RE projects abroad after it terminated last year its planned $46 million wind power acquisition in Vietnam. Rubio said the company has “rebooted” the team and is now ready to proceed with its overseas expansion projects in Vietnam and Indonesia.

“Vietnam is really very aggressive in really growing their renewable energy capacity. We actually stopped, walked out on projects that are almost in the finish line last year. But we are resourcing, we are actually already in touch again with potential partners, projects in Vietnam,” he said. The business model—acquisition of greenfield projects—for its international business remains the same for now. “Will we shift from just participating through equity and look at being an operator? It’s something that we’re considering as a business model. But to date, we haven’t changed our approach. We will continue to look at projects that we acquire until we make a decision to shift with this model.

It’s something that’s being evaluated today.”

Rubio said the company intends to participate in the programs of the government on renewable portfolio standards (RPS) and the Green Energy Option program (GEOP). He said these would help the company achieve its 2030 goal.

“This transition is not easy, but is definitely achievable. It is possible with the private sector and the government working together to ensure that the country’s renewable energy supply is more sustainable.”

RPS mandates power industry players to produce and source a certain percentage of electricity from RE sources such as biomass, waste-to-energy technology, wind energy, solar energy, run-of-river hydroelectric power systems, impounding hydroelectric power systems, ocean energy, and geothermal energy.

The GEOP is a mechanism where electricity end-users are given the option to choose RE as their preferred source of energy.