ACEN to pour P1.44B into 5 units to achieve clean energy ambition

SUSTAINABLE ACEN’s GigaSol Alaminos solar farm plays a prominent role in providing clean energy to the grid while spurring economic growth. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Ayala-led ACEN Corp. will infuse P1.44 billion into five of its units focusing on the development of renewable energy as it intensifies efforts to reach a target capacity within the decade.

In a stock exchange disclosure on Friday, ACEN, the listed energy platform of the Ayala group, said its executive committee approved the funding via loan or equity for AC Subic Solar Inc. (P367 million), AC Laguna Solar Inc. (P410 million), SolarAce4 Energy Corp. (P205 million), Ingrid2 Power Corp. (P134 million) and GigaWind1 Inc. (P324 million).

“The funding will be used by the [special purpose vehicles] for development activities relating to renewable energy projects in the Philippines,” the company said in its disclosure.

ACEN’s facilities in the Philippines, Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia and India have a total capacity of 4.3 gigawatts (GW), 98 percent of which is renewable energy.

John Eric Francia, president and chief executive of ACEN, early this year said they aimed to increase this to 20 GW by 2030 in line with the company’s net-zero carbon emission goal.

With just 20 percent fulfilled and a little over six years left before their self-imposed deadline, Francia said they wanted to hasten the development of new clean energy capacity from 1 GW to 2 GW annually by securing funding through loans and preferred share issuance.

ACEN began its expansion to the United States this year, following its acquisition of eight wind projects in Texas with a total capacity of 138 megawatts.

The company had also announced that they would earmark P70 billion in capital expenditures this year to accelerate the development of clean energy projects. INQ