Mindanao power demand boosts Alsons’ 2023 income

MANILA, Philippines  — Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. of the Alcantara Group ended 2023 with P2.29 billion in earnings, a growth of 22 percent from the previous year, driven mainly by increasing power demand in Mindanao.

Revenues in the same year rose by 3 percent to P12.4 billion.

In a stock exchange filing, Alsons said that apart from growing demand,  its participation in the spot market in Mindanao “has opened additional revenue streams for the company, contributing to our financial growth.”

The Wholesale Electricity Spot Market was officially launched in Mindanao in January 2023, finally allowing the trade of power in the country’s southernmost island.

READ: Marcos sees lower power rates in Mindanao with launching of WESM

Alsons likewise said it was optimistic about its growth trajectory in the coming years on the back of a projected 6.5-percent growth in annual power demand in the country.

The publicly listed company of the Alcantara Group last year broke ground for a 95.2-megawatt (MW) baseload backup power plant project in Bohol province, making its first project outside Mindanao.

READ: Bohol assured of backup power with new Alsons facility

Alsons currently has four fossil fuel-based facilities in Mindanao with a combined capacity of 468 MW.

It is developing three renewable energy projects—the 14.5-MW Siguil hydro power plant in Sarangani province, the 37.8-MW hybrid Siayan hydro-solar power plant in Zamboanga del Norte province and the 42-MW Bago hydro power plant in Negros Occidental province—in a bid to gradually retire its fossil fuel-fired facilities.

Alsons also announced on Thursday that it had approved a program to sell commercial papers worth up to P3 billion, which it would issue “in three or more tranches.”