SPC Power gets leeway to pursue renewable energy

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave its green light to Cebu-based SPC Power Corp. to venture into the renewable energy (RE) business.

In a disclosure, SPC Power said the SEC had approved the amendment to its articles of incorporation, allowing it to start the exploration and development of RE sources such as solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, ocean energy sources or hybrid systems.The firm is now likewise allowed to own or lease and develop real or personal properties, and invest in entities that acquire, develop, operate and maintain power generation facilities as well as those that produce and sell electricity.

P2.4-B capital outlays

SPC Power has set its sights on various power projects, invoking its “solid financial position and material headroom” despite a contraction in earnings.

In an email, SPC Power treasurer Jaime Balisacan had told the Inquirer earlier the company earmarked around P2.4 billion in capital expenditure this year.

It set aside P80 million to acquire the two oil-fired diesel power barges of AC Energy Corp. in Barangay Obrero, Iloilo City and Barangay Poblacion, Lapu-Lapu, respectively.

The remainder will go to thermal and RE investments. It is looking to acquire over 470 megawatts (MW) of thermal capacity and develop about 300 MW of RE projects.

“We are also working at about 80 megawatts of renewable projects, specifically solar in the Visayas region,” SPC Power vice president James Roy Villareal had said.

SPC Power is also targeting to start its battery energy storage project within the first half of the year. It is finalizing discussions on engineering, procurement and construction.

Amid the projected rebound in electricity demand, SPC Power is cautiously optimistic on earnings prospects as the combined effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Typhoon Odette toppled its bottom line last year and in the first three months of 2022.

Lower returns

SPC chair Alfredo Henares said the company hoped to address the gap between power supply and demand with existing and new power projects.

But given increased competition vis-à-vis what it was 10 years ago when these projects were first put up, Henares had said there would be “some temperance to the returns that we’ve been earning previously.” INQ