New plants boost ACEN profit in H1
By Lenie Lectura – August 9, 2024
from Business Mirror
ACEN Corp. announced on Thursday that its net income jumped by 49 percent year-on-year to P6.3 billion in the first half due to the 42-percent increase in its attributable renewable energy (RE) generation and a further improved net selling position in the electricity spot market.
“This performance continued to be driven principally by the year-over-year addition of new operating capacity from several renewable energy plants in the company’s major markets.
In the Philippines, these new plants allowed ACEN to further improve its net selling position in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM),” ACEN said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.
The renewables capacity of ACEN reached an estimated 4.8 gigawatts (GW) as of end-June. Of which, 69 percent, or approximately 3.3 GW, is already fully or partially operational.
With over 1 GW of signed agreements and competitive tenders won, ACEN has effectively surpassed its goal of building a portfolio of 5GW of RE capacity ahead of its end-2025 target.
“We have strong momentum on the back of a robust increase in operating earnings and steady progress with our project pipeline. We have won several new projects that we expect to add to our capacity within the next six to 12 months.
We remain on track with our goal of achieving 20 GW of renewables capacity by 2030,” said ACEN President Eric Francia.
Total attributable renewables output across ACEN’s markets, supported by the operationalization of several plants over the last six months, amounted to 2,908 GWh, up 42 percent year-on-year.
RE plants in the Philippines generated 1,015 GWh in the first half of 2024, a 77-percent expansion over the same period in 2023.
ACEN brought several solar and wind farms into operation during the first half of 2024, namely, the 385 megawatt (MW) phases 1 and 2 of SanMar Solar in Zambales, the 160 MW Pagudpud Wind and 70 MW Capa Wind in Ilocos Norte, the 133 MW Cagayan North Solar in Cagayan, and the second phase of the 116 MW Arayat-Mexico Solar joint venture in Pampanga. These new plants contributed 52 percent of ACEN’s RE output in the Philippines this year.
ACEN’s net seller position in the WESM rose by 80 percent to 606 GWh, mainly due to the said plants. Moreover, its retail electricity supply (RES) business grew by 51 percent year-on-year to 265 MW.
ACEN’s international assets, meanwhile, generated 1,893 GWh in attributable output, an increase of 28 percent compared with the level recorded a year ago.
Among the large-scale projects that were commissioned this year include the 522 MW first phase of New England Solar in Australia, the 420 MW Masaya Solar in India, and the 60 GW Lac Hoa & Hoa Dong Wind in Vietnam. The 287 MW first phase of the SUPER solar platform in Vietnam, which was acquired in 2023, was also added to ACEN’s generation portfolio.
“We have begun to see the results of our emphasis on expediently bringing more of our portfolio into operation. With our newly-operationalized plants already contributing significantly, we can expect to see solid results for the remainder of the year,” said ACEN CFO and Chief Strategy Officer Jonathan Back.
