Aboitiz Power Corporation launched its 49-megawatt (MW) battery energy storage system (BESS) in Maco, Davao de Oro, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia to be built on a floating platform.
“AboitizPower sees battery technology as a great opportunity to address concerns about the reliability, affordability, and sustainability of energy supply,” Aboitiz Power president and CEO Emmanual Rubio said in a statement.
The BESS project, also known as the Maco facility, is under the Aboitiz subsidiary Therma Marine Inc.
The Maco facility is among the 12 projects totaling a capacity of 248 megawatts for regulating and contingency reserves that AboitizPower is targeting to develop within the decade.
“We are excited to finally begin commercial operations of our first BESS facility, which will help reinforce the Mindanao grid,” Rubio said.
BESS is a kind of energy storage that uses batteries to store generated energy when there is a supply surplus in the grid.
The 49 MW BESS project “will complement TMI’s existing diesel engines by providing ancillary services to sustain the transmission capacity and energy that are essential in maintaining the power quality, reliability, and security of the Mindanao grid,” Aboitiz Power said.
Aboitiz Power is looking to build at least 3,700 MW of renewable energy locally and internationally within the decade, which will increase its renewable energy portfolio to 4,600 MW by 2030, as part of its 50:50 balance in its portfolio goal by 2030.