Aboitiz prepares to expand Cleanergy portfolio

MANILA, Philippines — Aboitiz Power Corp. is preparing to further expand its Cleanergy portfolio as it braces for the full implementation of policies that will further boost the demand for renewable energy sources.

AboitizPower COO Emmanuel Rubio said the group is well prepared to meet the renewable energy demand of the market once the renewable energy certificates under Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and Green Energy Option Program (GEOP) are implemented.

The company is planning to expand further its Cleanergy portfolio by landbanking on possible solar developments, he said.

“In preparation for RPS, we’re landbanking for solar. If they’re really requiring one percent… the opportunity is 450 to 700 megawatts (MW) annually,” Rubio said.

“We have a landbank of 200 hectares in Luzon and we are continuously looking for land,” he said.

RPS requires distribution utilities to source a portion of their power supply from eligible renewable energy producers while GEOP empowers end-users to choose renewable energy resources for their energy requirements.

Pursuant to Renewable Energy (RE) Law, the trading of renewable energy certificates (RECs) should be through the Renewable Energy Market under RPS and GEOP and this has yet to be implemented.

AboitizPower is prepared system-wise for these mechanisms, Rubio said, but they have to wait for the final implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for GEOP and the pricing of RECs.

“We’re really looking forward to GEOP to be implemented, that opens up the market to baseload renewable energy. I don’t know how many customers that would be, but threshold goes down to 100 kilowatts (kw). The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued the guidelines, they’re just finalizing the IRR,” he said.

“For RPS, we need to wait for pricing for the certificates which the DOE and ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission) are currently resolving,” he said.

AboitizPower has investments in various thermal and renewable power generating facilities with a total net sellable capacity of 3,350 MW with its partners. 

Together with its partners, it has 1,294 MW of Cleanergy, which come from 32 out of 50 power plants with a portfolio of hydro, geothermal and solar facilities.

Moreover, other renewable energy projects are in the pipeline.

Through subsidiary Hedcor Inc., AboitizPower is working on the P1.7-billion expansion of its 25-year old run-of-river hydropower plant in La Trinidad, Benguet.

The expansion project will triple the combined capacity of the Bineng hydro power plant facilities from 5.48 megawatts (MW) to 19 MW by 2019.

SN Aboitiz Power Group (SNAP), the joint venture of SN Power of Norway and AboitizPower, is also working  its 390-MW Alimit Hydropower project in Ifugao.