Southeast Asia’s RE Firm ACEN to Add 700 MW Solar & Wind Energy in 2023

Just as the Philippines is aiming to raise the share of renewable energy in the country’s energy mix to 35% by the end of this decade and 50% by 2040, its renewable energy conglomerate ACEN Corporation is looking to operationalise 700 MW of solar and wind energy projects in 2023. ACEN is the energy platform of the Ayala Group and boasts of 3,700 MW of attributable capacity in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Australia.

Through a social media message, ACEN President and CEO, Eric T. Francia, said, “ACEN is currently building over 1,000 MW of solar and wind projects in the Philippines, of which around 700 MW is expected to start operations within the next 12 months.”

The ACEN CEO informed that the addition of new renewable energy capacity will help balance the power demand and supply scenario and also help the Philippines in achieving the renewable energy targets.

Francia also held that in order to scale up the renewable energy, the Philippines needs to build more energy storage in the power system. The travesty of Philippines is that the country presently has a mere 23 per cent share of renewables in the energy mix. Coal continues to dominate the power production with over 57 per cent share.

The ACEN CEO also added, “It is therefore critical to get the reserve market operational soonest. It is also critical to get the renewable energy market operational, especially given the upward adjustment in renewable portfolio standards (RPS).” Under RPS system, the DISCOMs of the Philippines need to source or generate a fraction of their power from renewable energy plants.

ACEN wants to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by the way of retiring its remaining coal-based power plants. It wants to become a 20 GW renewable energy firm by the end of this decade. In November, ACEN completely divested South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation (SLTEC) coal plant using the energy transition mechanism (ETM), the first ETM deal in the world.

Earlier this year, the company had switched on the first hybrid solar and energy storage project of 40 MW in Alaminos, Laguna, Philippines.