ACEN ramps up ‘green energy’ contracts

By Myrna M. Velasco – March 30, 2022, 11:57 AM
from Manila Bulletin

Ayala-led AC Energy has been ramping up its offer to qualified customers who will choose renewable energy (RE) technologies in meeting their electricity needs.

The company said it is now reinforcing team efforts into enlisting customers under the Green Energy Option Program (GEOP), a policy that will allow power supply agreements (PSAs) with customers would who choose RE as their energy source.

To date, ACEN has already registered the first batch of its GEOP customers, which are undergoing switching process with the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP), the operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market. Nevertheless. ACEN did not reveal the identity of its new customers.

End-users within the consumption bracket of 100 kilowatts (kW) and up can qualify to sign up for GEOP contracts, which is a government-underpinned policy that has been promoting green energy solutions for environment-champion consumers.

According to ACEN, the typical customers who could join the GEOP league would be office buildings, small-medium manufacturing plants, schools, churches and temples, realty companies, strip or community malls, commercial areas, construction firms, small banks, condominiums, small and medium hotels, dealerships and beverage companies, among others.

The Ayala firm noted it is “targeting customers with an average peak demand of at least 100 kW for the past year.” ACEN will “provide customers with 100-percent renewable energy sourced from its portfolio of operating solar and geothermal plants in the Philippines.”

Under GEOP rules, even the “replacement power” for customers under the program shall also be procured from other RE capacities.

Miguel de Jesus, ACEN executive director and head of commercial operations, expressed pride in the launch of their GEOP offer, especially for the initial batch of customers.

“It signals our country’s pivot to renewable energy…renewables are even more sensible at this time when fossil fuel prices are skyrocketing. And to preserve our planet for the next generation,” he stressed.

GEOP is one of the policy cornerstones of the Renewable Energy Act of 2008. It dangles alternative market for RE-generated capacities following the government’s termination of the feed-in-tariff (FIT) subsidy system for RE developments.

Given RE’s solid stature as ‘clean energy’ infusion into the country’s power mix, De Jesus emphasized that RE primarily integrates sustainability that will “go a long way in the greening of the grid, and by implementing these enabling policies with meaningfulness and conviction, we are given more opportunities to forge partnerships anchored on renewables.”

And in the company’s suite of offers under GEOP, “We look forward to supporting businesses on their path to carbon neutrality,” De Jesus said.