Japanese firm Marubeni Philippines is shifting to renewable energy (RE) as their 25-year contracts for coal-fired power plants expire.

In a report by Business World, Marubeni Philippines president and CEO Shigeru Shimoda said that the firm’s goal is to parallel global sustainability goals and ease reliance on coal by 2025.

Shimoda added that the firm’s power generation plants, situated in Pagbilao, Quezon, and Sual, Pangasinan, are coal-fired power plants. However, its build-operate-transfer (BOT) contracts will end in 2025 and 2024, respectively.

Large-scale projects, usually ones involving infrastructure created through public-private partnerships, are frequently financed using a BOT contract.

TeaM Energy Corporation, a partnership between Japanese firms, Marubeni Corporation and JERA, operates as an independent power producer. It is responsible for the 1,218-megawatt (MW) Sual Power Station in Pangasinan and the 735 MW Pagbilao Power Station in Quezon.

Additionally, in collaboration with Aboitiz Power Corporation (AboitizPower), it also manages the 420 MW coal-fired Pagbilao Unit 3.

Shimoda added that Marubeni is currently looking into floating solar and offshore wind projects, with San Miguel Corporation and AboitizPower assuming control over Sual and Pagbilao.

Although they are now in talks with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the CEO of Marubeni also stated that they will be making the most of the San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam and Hydroelectric Plant in Pangasinan.

Marubeni, active in the Philippines since 1909, is seeking opportunities in solar farms but is constrained by foreign land ownership restrictions.