ACEN bares $8-b investment plan to achieve 8,000 MW of renewable projects in PH until 2030

By Alena Mae S. Flores – April 30, 2023, 7:15 pm
from manilastandard.net

ACEN Corp., the power generation arm of Ayala Corp., is building 8,000 megawatts of renewable energy projects in the Philippines until 2030 with investments of about $8 billion.

ACEN president and chief executive Eric Francia said about 600 MW of RE capacity was already in operation, while 1,000 MW was under construction, of which 70 percent would soon be operational.

Francia said the Philippines would remain as ACEN’s core market at 40 percent of the 20,000-MW target by 2030, followed by Australia with a footprint of 5,000 MW.

“In addition, we will continue to grow our presence in Vietnam, Indonesia and India. Onshore solar and wind will remain our core energy technologies, complemented by investments in new technologies such as battery energy storage, floating solar and offshore wind,” Francia said.

ACEN plans to build 3,000 MW in Indonesia and other markets, 2,000 MW in Vietnam and 2,000 MW in India by 2030.

“If you look at last couple of years, we’ve been starting close to one gigawatt of new projects every year…Today, we already have a little over 4 GW of capacity both operating and under construction,” Francia said.

“At some point, we have to ramp up or step up or go beyond 1 GW-per-year mark because if we stay at 1 GW per year with eight years to go, we’re not gonna get to 20 GW,” he said.

Francia said ACEN would accelerate project development closer to 2 GW towards mid to end part of the decade.

ACEN is also moving forward with its commitment to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, which fully supports the company’s ongoing growth and decarbonization strategy.

ACEN completed in December its net zero roadmap, making the company the first in Southeast Asia to take the critical step towards achieving net zero, with a transparent framework for monitoring progress.

“ACEN recognizes that to reach the net zero outcome for the power sector, it will need to rely on both emissions reduction and neutralization of residual emissions. As part of its transition plan, ACEN aims to deliver reduction-led decarbonization by 2040, with an interim target for 2030, and a net zero status by 2050,” he said.