Lopez-led First Philippines Industrial Park (FPIP) has signed a pioneering renewable energy deal with its sister company First Gen Corporation, marking a major milestone under the government’s Retail Aggregation Program (RAP).

Finalized on July 21 during a ceremony held in Batangas, the agreement will see First Gen, through subsidiary First Gen Energy Solutions (FGES), supply electricity sourced from hydroelectric power plants to 21 facilities within the FPIP ecozone, including those operated by its subsidiaries FPIP Property Developers & Management Corporation and FPIP Utilities, Inc.

This is the first time contestable customers inside an industrial park have pooled their power requirements under RAP to negotiate collectively for clean energy.

“We have a diversified renewable energy portfolio and increasing demand for RE from customers to meet their sustainability and decarbonization goals. What we want to do is to demonstrate that it is possible to provide stable and steady RE supply while securing cost-efficient energy,” said Francis Giles Puno, president of First Gen and FPIP.

RAP, launched by the Energy Regulatory Commission in 2022, enables multiple electricity consumers within a contiguous area to aggregate their demand and meet the 500-kilowatt (kW) monthly threshold required to choose a preferred power supplier under the Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) framework.

To qualify, FPIP consolidated its power consumption with its two subsidiaries, which provide key support services across the 600-hectare ecozone, home to over 150 locators including global firms like Dyson, Nestlé, Canon, Honda, Collins Aerospace, and Philippine Manufacturing Co. of Murata Inc.

FGES will supply the aggregated demand primarily from First Gen’s 132-megawatt Pantabangan-Masiway and 165-MW Casecnan hydroelectric power plants in Nueva Ecija.

This move reinforces the Lopez Group’s mission of “forging collaborative pathways for a decarbonized and regenerative future.”

In addition to the RAP deal, First Gen has also entered into separate supply agreements with several FPIP locators through the RCOA and the Green Energy Option Program (GEOP), another government initiative promoting renewable energy use among eligible consumers.

First Gen currently operates 28 power plants with over 1,600 MW of combined capacity from geothermal, wind, solar, and hydro sources. To maintain grid reliability and meet baseload demand, it also operates 2,017 MW of gas-fired capacity through a partnership with Prime Infrastructure Capital.

What are your thoughts on this development? Is your facility ready to join a retail aggregation deal for renewable energy? Let us know. 

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