SPC remains bullish on planned RE investments
By Myrna M. Velasco – June 1, 2022, 4:11 PM
from Manila Bulletin
Despite downturn in financial performance last year, Henares-led SPC Power Corporation has indicated that it is still upbeat on targeted renewable energy (RE) investments as well as battery energy storage system (BESS) installations.
SPC Chairman Alfredo L. Henares said the company “remains bullish on investments in renewables, setting its sight on solar power projects in Luzon and Visayas.”
He added that the other ventures they will be pursuing will be on BESS installations – viewed as the perfect technology coupling to manage the intermittency of renewables.
In addition, SPC will be joining competitive auctions for energy; as well as ancillary service capacities or the reserve power that system operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) will be needing in operating the country’s electricity transmission network.
For the RE space, the company laid down its plan last year to-refocus investments into solar as well as hydropower projects; and such shall be complemented by battery storage facilities.
The company has yet to firm up specific capacity-targets; albeit it already hinted that siting will primarily be targeted in Luzon and Visayas grids.
“Despite the decline in net income, the company maintains a solid financial position and material headroom which allows its flexibility to pay dividends, to maintain the performance of existing assets and to take advantage of investment opportunities for growth,” Henares noted during the firm’s annual stockholders meeting.
Within first quarter this year, the unaudited net income of SPC likewise dipped by 71.5-percent to P131.209 million from P460.693 million within last year’s comparative period.
For last year, the company explained that the downtrend in income had been due to confluence of factors – including the lingering impact of the coronavirus pandemic; and the devastation of super typhoon Odette last December.
“Repercussions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic disruption brought about by super typhoon Odette in the Visayas – the heart of (SPC’s) operations; and the highly
competitive environment of the power generation business in the country, dealt a blow to the company’s 2021 operations,” the power firm reiterated.
Henares, nevertheless, maintained that “despite the challenges, SPC is steadfast in its commitment to a sustainable future.”
The bulk of the company’s operations for its power generation facilities are in the Visayas grid – and these are currently anchored mainly on thermal power generation that are under subsidiaries SPC Island Power Corporation; Mactan Electric Company Inc. and KEPCO SPC Power Corporation.
