ACEN enters US renewable energy market with new partners

MANILA, Philippines — ACEN Corp., the Ayala group’s listed energy platform, is entering the US renewable energy (RE) market with strategic partners as it expands its geographical footprint.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, ACEN said it secured board approval for a newly formed strategic partnership with UPC Solar & Wind Investments LLC (UPC) and Pivot Power Management (PPM).

The partners will “pursue opportunities to acquire operating wind projects in the US and explore strategies for extending their useful life through preventative maintenance and repowering,” ACEN said.

ACEN said the transaction is subject to usual and customary conditions precedent to closing.

“Our aspiration is for the US to become a priority market for ACEN outside of Philippines over time. This partnership will provide an exciting entry to the fast-growing US market, and we look forward to leveraging the combined expertise of ACEN and our new partners to make this a strong growth platform in the coming years,” ACEN International president and COO Patrice Clausse said.

ACEN said the new partnership would target the acquisition of operating wind projects across various geographies in the US.

It seeks to upgrade and replace key components on target projects with the goal of extending project life and optimizing power generation.

“We are excited to work with the ACEN team toward our shared goal of accelerating the transition to renewable energy. This transaction will help us grow our development and operating platform in the US,” PPM chief executive officer Tim Rosenzweig said.

ACEN hopes to add renewable capacity to its growing portfolio as it continues to work towards its goal of 5,000 megawatts of capacity by 2025.

So far, the company said it has successfully deployed more than $200 million in each of its priority markets of Australia, Vietnam and Indonesia to date.

In a virtual briefing yesterday, ACEN president and CEO Eric Francia said the company is focused on building up its presence in countries it currently serves like Vietnam, Australia, Indonesia and India.

“We think that there are still opportunities in these markets. We will continue to work with partners, a good number of them are global or regional partners,” he said.

ACEN has an RE pipeline of 18,000 MW in its current covered markets, and these are in various stages of progress, being developed organically and with partners.

Of the total, 8,100 MW is in Australia, 6,500 MW in the Philippines, 1,600 in Vietnam and 1,800 MW in India and other markets.

This massive pipeline puts the company in a position to reach its 5,000-MW goal “one or two years ahead of the 2025 target,” Francia said.

The company is eyeing to become the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia.