ACEN eyes solar-powered telco towers

MANILA, Philippines — ACEN Corp. plans to provide solar power to telecommunications towers in the country through a planned joint venture with the Norwegian Investment Fund.

In a stock exchange filing, ACEN said its executive committee has approved the proposed joint venture with Norfund and investment into YMP Telecom Power Inc. for the provision of sustainable and affordable telecom tower solarization solutions in the country.

ACEN said the proposed joint venture between the company and Norfund is aimed to fund projects of Yoma Micro Power (YMP) in the Philippines.

The business case is for the joint venture to provide solar power to telecom towers owned by telecom companies in the Philippines, ACEN said.

Norfund is the Norwegian Investment Fund for developing countries.

It is owned and funded by the Norwegian government and is used as a tool for strengthening the private sector in developing countries.

Yoma Micro Power (YMP), meanwhile, is a Southeast Asia-focused distributed renewable energy company that powers more than 600 telecom towers with reliable and cost effective renewable energy.

Its investors include Myanmar conglomerate Yoma Group, Norfund, IFC, and company founder Alakesh Chetia.

In 2019, ACEN signed a binding term sheet with Singapore-based Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd. to form a joint venture firm that will invest in YMP.

ACEN, the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group, is working toward reaching 20 gigawatts (GW) of renewables capacity by 2030, making it be the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia.

The company expects the geographic mix of its portfolio by 2030 to include eight-GW of clean energy projects in the Philippines, which will remain its core market, five-GW in Australia, three- GW in Indonesia and other markets, as well as two GW each in Vietnam and India.

ACEN has about 4,300 MW of attributable capacity from owned facilities in the country and abroad, with a renewable share of 98 percent, which is among the highest in the region.