Aboitiz Power building 30-MW energy storage in Cebu

MANILA, Philippines – Aboitiz Power Corp. will develop a 30-megawatt (MW) hybrid battery energy storage system (BESS) at Mactan Economic Zone in Cebu, one of the first large-scale facilities of this kind in Central Visayas.

Once operational by the first half of 2026, the BESS project seen to bolster electricity reliability for the growing Visayas economy.

The company said on Monday that the group, through Therma Power Inc.’s subsidiary East Asia Utilities Corp. (EAUC), would soon start construction works for the project.

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The firm said the facility would give the needed supply boost amid increasing demand from businesses and locators at the economic zone.

“This project will allow us to respond to imbalances in real-time, helping the grid absorb fluctuations and minimize disruptions,” said Aldo Ramos, AboitizPower Transition Business Group chief operating officer for operated assets.

“EAUC has consistently proven its ability to provide crucial ancillary reserves to the Luzon and Visayas grid when needed. The integration of BESS with our existing facility will materially enhance this capability, enabling faster and more efficient responses,” he added.

According to the group, a hybrid BESS performs as a backup power, as it stores excess electricity and releases it when the grid requires additional supply. Aboitiz Power claims that the technology could deploy power “within seconds.”

It added that since the government has a target of increasing the share of renewables in the power generation mix, including solar and wind, “energy storage will be critical for managing fluctuations and enabling even higher levels of variable renewable energy integration.”

“Following BESS projects in Maco and Nasipit, AboitizPower continues to invest in a flexible energy portfolio—aligned with the goal of a balanced renewable and thermal energy mix—to support the country’s evolving power needs,” Ramos said.

AboitizPower has operations in power generation, power distribution, retail electricity services and distributed energy.

In a separate disclosure, the group said the first tranche of its P100-billion retail bond program had been listed on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. INQ