Ayala Land, Mitsubishi form new company

Property giant Ayala Land Inc. has teamed up with Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan on a venture to provide energy-saving solutions in the Philippines and overseas, starting with the Ayalas’ large-scale real estate projects.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Thursday, ALI said the project would be undertaken by  Philippine Integrated Energy Solutions Inc. (Philenergy), which would be 60-percent owned by ALI and 40 percent by Mitsubishi.

For its initial project, Philenergy earmarked about P1 billion for a project that will make energy and water consumption more efficient in Ayala Center (Makati) and Alabang Town Center.

“Philenergy will be managed primarily by ALI to further enhance the competitiveness of its properties and even that of other potential third-party facilities by lowering energy consumption and increasing their sustainability footprint,” the company said in the disclosure.

Mitsubishi is seen playing a critical role by providing technical support through its extensive network of affiliated energy-saving companies, which have extensive track records in Japan and around the region.

The Ayala group has existing strategic partnership arrangements with Mitsubishi.

“Being able to manage the occupancy costs for tenants in our portfolio of leasing properties is going to be critical to the continued success of ALI in this very competitive market environment,” said ALI president Antonino Aquino.

“We are also fully committed to raising the bar for sustainability in our facilities, and even the country as a whole, and Philenergy will be a vital component of our strategy moving forward,” Aquino said.

Nobuaki Kojima, Mitsubishi executive vice president and group chief executive officer of the global environment business development group, said the Japanese group was proud of its involvement in Philenergy.

“I do hope Philenergy will expand its business not only in the Philippines but also overseas. And we at Mitsubishi promise to make every effort toward the success of this project,” Kojima said.

Part of the plans of the new venture is to implement district cooling systems (DCS) in large mixed-use developments. The P1-billion capital outlay budgeted for this year will cover the construction of DCS plants for the redevelopment of Ayala Center in Makati and Alabang Town Center.

DCS is the technology of distributing chilled water or other media to multiple buildings for air conditioning or other uses. The cooling or heat rejection is usually provided from a specially built cooling plant.

The joint venture is also planning other DCS projects in Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Quezon City. It also aims to tap into the large domestic and even regional market of facilities that require energy-saving solutions.—Doris C. Dumlao