ACEN attains 5-GW renewable energy goal ahead of target in Philippines

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It is mission accomplished for ACEN Corp., the listed energy platform of the Ayala group, having achieved its five gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity target a year ahead of schedule.

'Officially, we have about 4.7 GW of renewables today. But if you include the signed agreements and won auctions, it's just a matter of time that we will issue the notice to proceed. So safe to say we have effectively surpassed that (five-GW target),' ACEN president and CEO Eric Francia told The STAR.

'We're just very strict in terms of counting the megawatts or gigawatts, but pro forma we're already just under six GW if you include the signed agreements, many of which already have board approvals,' he said in an interview.

ACEN had originally set its sights on a five-GW target by 2025.

Now that the mark has been crossed, the company is pushing ahead with its bigger 20-GW of renewables capacity target by 2030.

The goal will help provide clean, reliable and affordable energy to more people.

'So we're on track relative to the 20-GW plan. But we will be needing quite a bit of capital,' Francia said.

ACEN is expected to spend $15 billion to achieve its 20-GW goal by the end of the decade.

For this year alone, ACEN has earmarked P72 billion for capital expenditures.

'We'll focus on our current geographies, core markets of Philippines, Australia and Vietnam,' Francia said.

'For now it's staying the course, but we will limit our expansion beyond these current countries because there's already significant opportunities, especially here in the Philippines given how tight the power situation is. We're marshaling a lot of our resources here in the Philippines,' he said.

In terms of new renewable energy technologies, Francia said ACEN is starting to get into floating solar and is also looking into offshore wind.

'Although that will still take quite some time because there are still a lot of preparations, policies and regulations that need to be firmed up for offshore wind,' he said.

According to Francia, the company is also looking at some opportunities for pumped hydro in the Philippines as well.

ACEN is one of the fastest-growing platforms for renewable energy in the Asia Pacific region. It is committed to achieving its goal of becoming a net zero greenhouse gas emissions company by 2050.