ACEN investing P30.5B in new solar project in Australia

ACEN Corp. is infusing up to 800 million Australian dollars (about P30.5 billion) into the development of a solar project in Australia as it moves to expand its renewable footprint abroad.

The listed power company of the Ayala Group is likewise investing in new renewable projects in the Philippines.

ACEN told the local bourse its board committed up to A$800 million for the 520-megawatt Stubbo Solar Farm Project located in the Central West region of New South Wales. It would be funded using any combination of equity, credit support, guarantees and other similar arrangements.

The ACEN board likewise authorized ACEN Australia Pty Ltd. and its relevant subsidiaries to enter into a photovoltaic module supply agreement for the solar farm.

ACEN Australia represents ACEN’s renewable energy assets in Australia, which include solar, wind, battery, pumped hydro and energy storage projects across New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia.

Set to start construction later this year, the Stubbo solar project will have a battery energy storage system. The farm will then be connected to an existing transmission network.

“The site will allow rows of solar panels to be installed with enough height and space for sheep to graze in and around,” information on ACEN’s website showed.

Solar power expansion

ACEN also obtained the green light to acquire Sinocalan Solar Power Corp., which is developing a 60-MW solar plant in Pangasinan.

The firm will likewise be investing in the 237-MW Giga Ace 8 Solar Power Project in Palauig, Zambales, which will have a transmission line, and the 208-MW Naredco Solar Power Plant Project with a 100-MW expansion in La-lo, Cagayan.

The projects would boost ACEN’s aspiration of reaching 20 gigawatts of renewables capacity by 2030 to become the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia.

ACEN currently has about 4,000 MW of attributable capacity in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Australia.

The company also announced Thursday the election of Delfin Lazaro and Jaime Alfonso Antonio Zobel de Ayala as board directors to serve the unexpired terms of Fernando Zobel de Ayala and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, respectively.

Lazaro, who has been a nonexecutive director of Ayala Corp. since January 2007, served as energy secretary from 1992 to 1994.

He is director of publicly listed companies Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. He is also director of AC Industrial Technology Holdings Inc., AC International Finance Ltd., Purefoods International Ltd. and Probe Productions Inc.

Jaime Alfonso, meanwhile, is also a director at other Ayala firms, including ACE Enexor Inc., Ayala Land Logistics Corp., AC Ventures Corporation, BPI Capital Corp., BPI Direct BanKo Inc. and AC Energy International Inc.

He currently heads the business development and innovation units of Ayala Corp.