AC Energy building up renewable energy portfolio with $2-B investments
AC Energy Philippines Inc., formerly Phinma Energy Corp., is eyeing close to $2 billion or P100 billion of investment in domestic renewable energy projects, with a goal of racking up a total of 2,000 megawatts of capacity within six years.
Company president John Eric T. Francia said in a briefing the company currently had 62 MW of renewables-based generating capacity in its portfolio while its new parent firm, the Ayala group’s AC Energy Inc., had 100 MW.
“Our goal is to reach 2,000 MW of renewables by 2025,” Francia said. “That leaves us with still about 1,850 MW to build up and we are inclined to have this in greenfield [brand-new] projects.”
Also, Francia said the Ayala group was gearing up to turn around and transform its newly acquired subsidiary, aiming to bring it back to a positive bottom line by 2020.
“We are now in the process of combining the assets and capabilities of AC Energy and Phinma Energy to form a stronger and more agile energy platform,” he said.
“Our vision for AC Energy Philippines is to be the leader in renewable energy in the country,” he added.
Francia said the new management will propose the creation of 16 billion in additional shares to raise the company’s capital stock.
“We are looking at infusing [parent AC Energy’s domestic] assets, including South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. (SLTEC) and the latter’s pipeline of renewable energy projects.
SLTEC is a joint venture of AC Energy, Phinma Energy and Marubeni Corp.’2 Axia Power Holdings Philippines Corp.
“Consolidating the ownership of SLTEC will enable the company to withstand market volatilities and compete for the long term,” Francia said.
He said that demand for electricity continuing to show “strong growth on the back of a robust economy,” they were anticipating significant opportunities.
“With the government’s target of renewables reaching 35 percent of energy output by 2030, the country would need to build over 15,000 MW of renewables in the next decade,” Francia said.
