ACEN 1Q income dips 68%

Ayala-led ACEN said it posted a consolidated net income of Php405 million for the first quarter of 2022, 68% lower than the Php1.27 billion recorded in the same period last year.

The decrease was attributed to higher costs of power purchases due to elevated prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) due to the major preventive maintenance outage of ACEN’s 270-megawatt (MW) South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation (SLTEC) coal-fired power plant in Calaca, Batangas.

The SLTEC plant was one of the facilities that went on unplanned outages in March, causing a brief yellow alert in the Luzon Grid. 

ACEN also said the damages to the transmission lines in the Visayas after the onslaught of Typhoon Odette and prior damage to a subsea cable affected the company’s revenue. The company has solar farms in Negros.

“We expect these issues to be resolved in the short to medium term, with the full rehabilitation of transmission lines damaged by [Typhoon Odette], and supported by new operating capacity coming online in the next few months,” ACEN CFO and Treasurer Cora Dizon, said in a statement.

ACEN’s attributable output went up by four percent to 1,161 gigawatt-hours in the first quarter. But even with the opening of new operating capacities in 2021, the output was offset by the effects of SLTEC’s outages and the curtailment in the Visayas. 

Ayala’s power arm recently partnered with Cleantech Renewable Energy Corporation for a 133MW solar farm in Lal-lo, Cagayan to help “achieve its capacity expansion targets and return to a robust growth trajectory.” ACEN also partnered with German firm ib vogt to construct 1,000MW worth of solar farms in Asia.

“Recent global events have shed light on the importance of energy security and have accelerated the worldwide energy transition. The recent conflict in Ukraine and supply chain disruptions have led to soaring prices of commodities and fossil fuels, highlighting the need for more indigenous and sustainable energy sources,” said ACEN President and CEO Eric Francia.

“ACEN’s aggressive RE portfolio expansion and geographical diversification allow us to capitalize on these developments in the long run,” he continued.