ACEN to pursue solar projects in Taiwan

MANILA  -A subsidiary of Ayala-led ACEN Corp. has partnered with a Singapore-based company to develop solar projects in Taiwan as it broadens its international footprint to reach its renewable energy expansion target.

In a stock exchange disclosure on Friday, ACEN said its renewable energy unit, ACEN Renewables International Pte. Ltd. (ACRI), had signed a shareholders’ agreement with Silverwolf Capital Ltd. for the project through a joint venture platform called ACEN-Silverwolf Pte. Ltd.

According to ACEN, the listed energy platform of the Ayala group, ACRI will invest around $2 million as working capital for the project. ACEN will have a 50-percent ownership stake.

The company currently has 4.4 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in its renewable energy portfolio, with 2.7 GW coming from its international businesses in Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Australia.

The company aims to increase this to 20 GW by 2030.

On Thursday, ACEN announced that it had also signed an agreement with Indonesia-based PT Trisurya Mitra Bersama to create PT Puri Prakarsa Batam, which is slated to become a large-scale solar, battery energy storage system and green hydrogen developer.

The joint venture will cover the Batam, Bintan and Karimun islands, as well as East Nusa Tenggara provincce.

ACEN last month secured a P10-billion loan to fund its aggressive clean energy expansion plans.

In its disclosure, the firm said this was part of a larger P32-billion fundraising plan that was first announced in March.

ACEN said it wants to boost its renewable energy portfolio to 20 gigawatts by 2030 from the current 4.4 GW. INQ