Biggest electric co-op taps AboitizPower for renewable energy
By Lenie Lectura -December 31, 2019
from Business Mirror
BATANGAS II Electric Cooperative Inc. (Batelec II) has tapped Aboitiz Power Corp. to supply power to the largest electric cooperative in the country.
Under their power-supply agreement, AboitizPower will provide 3 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy (RE) to Batelec II. Power will be sourced from the Tiwi-MakBan geothermal power plants, which are being operated and managed by AboitizPower subsidiary AP Renewables Inc. (Apri). It will be utilized by Batelec II for its local retail electricity supply (LRES) customers.
Apri will also supply Batelec II with a 20-MW emergency power supply for one year, from December 26, 2019, to December 25, 2020.
“We’ve been in the business for over four decades, and this is the first time we have decided to venture into the open access business and activate our local retail electricity supplier,” said Octavious Mendoza, Batelec II general manager.
“To make a difference, we have decided to source renewable supply to serve our contestable customers. It’s such a bold move so we need a dependable partner to support us in this sustainability journey, and we trust AboitizPower can do just that,” he added.
Batelec II, which has a peak demand of 132 MW, is the largest of all 119 ECs in the country.
Aside from serving its contestable customers through LRES, Batelec II also supplies electricity to its franchise area of more than 300,000 households across 15 municipalities and two cities in Batangas.
Together with partners, AboitizPower currently has around 1,200 MW of Cleanergy capacity from its hydro, geothermal, and solar power plants that are strategically located nationwide in support of the country’s rapidly growing demand for clean and renewable energy.
Aside from power generation, AboitizPower also owns distribution utilities that operate in high-growth areas in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, including the second- and third-largest private utilities in the country.
