Aboitiz Group upbeat on ’24 goals, raises stake in energy sector

Local energy giant Aboitiz Power Corp. is optimistic about locking in more gains this year amid the stronger performances of its businesses, its top official said.

Danel Aboitiz, president and CEO of Aboitiz Power Corp., expressed confidence that the group could hit its targets in 2024.

He did not provide figures during a recent interview with reporters but said the growth would be driven by “general performance all across.”

“We’ve got immense availability—more capacity coming online, growth in our distribution business, improvements in our infrastructure. So many, many small things all adding up,” he said.

Aboitiz Power is engaged in power generation, power distribution, retail electricity services and distributed energy. Its power generation portfolio includes both renewable and nonrenewable generation plants.

The company, the flagship business of the Aboitiz Group, also refused to disclose possible capital spending for next year when asked.

For this year, the Aboitiz Group allotted almost half of its capital expenditures, or P73 billion, to its power arm.

However, Aboitiz hinted at a potential increase in investment amid the goal to expand its portfolio.

“I think at the end of the day, again, we’re in growth mode. We have aspirations to build more,” he said.

Earlier this 2024, the company said it would further scale up its clean energy portfolio with new projects in the pipeline, with a combined capacity of up to 1,200 megawatts (MW).

Aboitiz Power unveiled its goal to have 4,600 MW of renewable capacity by 2030. It entails developing 3,700 MW of new renewable capacity, covering solar, wind, geothermal, hydro and battery energy storage systems.

“So, that momentum will continue until we achieve our goals,” Aboitiz said.

For the first nine months, Aboitiz Power booked higher core net income reaching P27.2 billion, up from a year ago’s P26.7 billion.

Cash flow as measured by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization also improved by 12 percent to P56.1 billion in the period, primarily boosted by its higher generation portfolio and added capacity from the activation of two facilities: the 159-MW Laoag and 94-MW Cayanga solar plants.