ACEN goes all-in on RE

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala-led ACEN Corp. is divesting its remaining diesel assets as part of a bold strategy to fully transition to renewable power by year-end.

The move comes after the company’s executive committee approved the sale of three special-purpose vehicles that own diesel plants to ACEN’s majority shareholder, AC Energy and Infrastructure Corp. (ACEIC).

The planned sale covers Bulacan Power Generation Corp.’s 52-megawatt plant in Bulacan, One Subic Power Generation Corp.’s 116-MW facility at the Subic Freeport and CIP II Power Corp.’s 21-MW plant in La Union.

The transaction will be executed through the sale of ACEN’s outstanding common shares in the special-purpose companies to ACEIC.

“The divestment will help the company achieve its goal of reaching 100 percent renewable energy generation by end-2025,” ACEN said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday.

The deal’s closing is subject to the satisfaction of agreed conditions precedent and the execution of definitive documentation, the energy firm said.

Sought for insights, investment banker Juan Paolo Colet said he expects the sale to drive more investments for ACEN, further strengthening its foothold in the clean energy space.

“The divestment is part of ACEN’s ongoing transformation into a pure-play renewable energy company. This should eventually make them attractive to investors who prefer companies that are 100 percent focused on RE,” Colet told The STAR.

Currently, ACEN is exploring the use of transition credits in accelerating the early retirement of its 246-MW South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. coal-fired plant in Batangas.

The initiative involves developing end-to-end technological solutions to replace the generation output of the coal plant with clean, reliable power.

Transition credits are a type of carbon credit earned when coal plants are decommissioned ahead of schedule and replaced with renewable sources.

As the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group, ACEN aims to expand its renewables capacity to 20 gigawatts by 2030.

At present, the company has a global generation portfolio of about seven GW spanning operational, under-construction and committed projects.