Aboitiz Power Corporation is looking to spend around Php190 billion over the next decade for an additional 3,700 megawatts (MW) under its renewable energy (RE) portfolio in a bid to reach a 50:50 balance between RE and thermal capacities by 2030.
The company aims to expand its total attributable net sellable capacity to 9,200 MW in the next ten years, half of which or 4,600 MW will come from various RE sources. To date, AboitizPower needs to build around 3,700MW of additional RE capacity to meet its 4,600MW goal.
As of July, AboitizPower — the country’s largest power generator — has already identified 2,364MW of new RE projects, all in varying stages of development and located primarily in Luzon.
“We are committed to seeing through our ten-year strategy and this is only the beginning. There will be more beyond this pipeline in order for us to reach our target,” AboitizPower President and CEO Emmanuel Rubio said in a statement.
Solar projects currently comprise 60% of the company’s pipeline RE projects, while 32 % are wind, and the rest hydro. The projects’ details, including their estimated costs, are still being finalized.
AboitizPower is optimistic that it can hit its 2030 goal without building any new coal-fired power plant facilities. This comes as the Department of Energy (DOE) imposed a moratorium on the building of new coal projects late last year.
Rubio said that along the way, the firm also wants to help the government achieve its aspiration of increasing the share of RE in the national energy mix.
The DOE aims for RE to comprise 35% of the country’s energy mix by 2030 and is banking on mechanisms such as the Renewable Portfolio Standards and Green Energy Option Program (GEOP) to get there. AboitizPower has the most GEOP participants with five retail electricity suppliers (RES).
The company recently announced that it will start building this year a 74MW solar power facility in Bugallon, Pangasinan. Majority of the facility’s capacity will be contracted for RES, which can help bring more sustainable energy to power consumers across the country.