As renewable energy becomes trendy, Aboitiz Power goes into solar roof business

Aboitiz Power Corp. is launching a new unit as it enters the rooftop solar power system market to expand its portfolio of renewable energy assets.

Named AboitizPower Distributed Energy Inc. or APX, the new company is already looking at completing within this year “several key projects” in Luzon and the Visayas.

The new subsidiary is also intended to tap into the AboitizPower group’s existing open access customers.

The Energy Regulatory Commission’s retail competition and open access (RCOA) scheme allows consumers representing a certain volume of demand, currently at a minimum of one megawatt (MW), to seek alternative suppliers other than the incumbent distribution utility in their area.

In Metro Manila, customers that signed up for Aboitiz Power’s open access retail services include The Net Group, Eton Properties, UnionBank, Asian Development Bank and Nestle Philippines.

“The positive response from customers affirms our view that distributed energy technology such as rooftop solar complements existing products and services that the AboitizPower group provides,” APX general manager Ping Mendoza said.

AboitizPower went into the solar power segment in 2016 with its 59-MW San Carlos Sun (Sacasun) project in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.

Under its Cleanergy brand, AboitizPower is engaged in geothermal, solar, and hydropower facilities across the nation.

Through Cleanergy, AboitizPower, along with its partners, has a total of 1,272 megawatts in net sellable capacity.

“We have been in the power industry for more than 80 years,” AboitizPower president Antonio Moraza said in a statement.

“This gives us a wealth of knowledge and technical capability that we can share to our customers who want to go into solar,” Moraza said.