Wells Fargo Philippines, AboitizPower ink deal for RE requirements

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine branch of Wells Fargo International Solutions LLC has entered into a retail electricity purchase agreement with Aboitiz Power Corp., allowing it to meet 65 percent of its electricity requirements in the country with geothermal power.

Under the deal entered into with AP Renewables Inc. (APRI),  the power firm will deliver 7,500 megawatt-hours (MWh) of renewable energy annually bundled with International Renewable Energy Certificates (I-RECs) to Wells Fargo’s Taguig facility from APRI’s Tiwi-MakBan geothermal plants in the provinces of Laguna, Batangas and Albay.

Wells Fargo Philippines is primarily an extension of the operations, knowledge services and corporate support teams of Wells Fargo.

The partnership with AboitizPower is Wells Fargo’s first for geothermal energy.

Wells Fargo is the first to shift to renewable energy in McKinley Hill, Bonifacio Global City, where its 850,000-square-foot site is located.

“We have been taking deliberate steps in our sustainability journey, with utilities being one of our major focus areas. This marks an important additional step in that direction. The conversion of our newest site in Manila toward adopting renewable energy is in alignment with our consistent focus on increasing sustainable use of resources and development in our corporate properties,” Wells Fargo Philippines corporate properties group head Edzel Reyes said.

As part of its goal to accelerate transition to a low-carbon economy, Wells Fargo has been meeting 100 percent of its annual global electricity requirements through renewable energy since 2017, primarily through the purchase of RECs.

Wells Fargo’s recent purchase agreement with AboitizPower represents an important step in the next phase of the bank’s renewable energy goal — to transition to a higher mix of long-term renewable energy contracts and significantly increase deployment of on-site generation to support the development of net-new sources of renewable energy.

“Renewable energy projects like Tiwi-MakBan are critical for helping us do our part to curb the impacts of climate change,” said Nate Hurst, head of social impact and sustainability for Wells Fargo.

Geothermal power plants use heat from deep inside the earth to generate steam to make electricity. According to power-technology.com, the MakBan and Tiwi plants are the fourth- and ninth-largest geothermal plants in the world, respectively.

“This partnership with Wells Fargo is a shared commitment towards building the market for renewables in this country. A multi-sectoral approach of all stakeholders doing their part will help us achieve the grid’s aspirational RE share of 35 percent by the end of the decade,” AboitizPower first vice president for commercial operations Juan Alejandro Aboitiz said.

“Wells Fargo’s pro-active support for Cleanergy is a good example of how environmentally-conscious corporations can strengthen their sustainability programs, and help build the market for renewables in the Philippines,” he said.

In addition to being one of the largest corporate users of renewable energy, Wells Fargo is a leader in financing large-scale wind, solar and other renewable energy projects.

The company made its first tax equity commitment in 2006. Since then, it has become one of the leading investors in the renewable energy space, providing more than $8 billion in tax equity financing to customers in support of more than 400 projects.

At the close of 2019, Wells Fargo’s tax equity investments represented 10.3 percent of all solar and wind generation capacity in the US.