ACEN allots P60 billion capex for Philippines expansion

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala-led ACEN Corp. is doubling down on the Philippine market, ramping up its capital spending to at least P60 billion this year to fund ongoing and planned domestic projects.

ACEN president and CEO Eric Francia said roughly 75 percent of the company’s planned capital expenditures of over P80 billion would be directed toward projects in the Philippines.

“Over P60 billion will go to the Philippines alone,” Francia told reporters yesterday, noting that the funding will be used to complete ACEN’s solar, wind and battery energy storage projects.

The company also plans to roll out at least 500 megawatts (MW) of local projects this year, reinforcing the Philippines as its primary core market.

This year’s capex more than doubles ACEN’s actual spending of around P24 billion in 2025.

ACEN currently has 2.4 gigawatts (GW) of capacity spanning operational, under-construction and committed projects in the Philippines, accounting for about 35 percent of its global portfolio.

Globally, ACEN boasts around seven GW of project portfolio, of which approximately 4.3 GW are already operational.

“We’ll be more than five GW operational by the end of this year, and we should be close to seven GW operational by next year,” Francia said.

In addition, the company intends to advance more than one GW of new projects this year, he noted.

On the financial front, Francia expects ACEN to post “better” earnings this year, driven by the restoration of its typhoon-hit wind farms in the Philippines and the recent energization of both local and international projects.

“So the plants have been stable in terms of operations. That would definitely add to the volume output because around 200 MW worth of wind farms were affected by the typhoon in 2024,” he said.

The Ayala Group’s listed energy platform has yet to report its full-year 2025 financial results.

In the first nine months of 2025, however, ACEN reported an attributable net income of P1.79 billion, down by 78 percent compared to P8.14 billion a year ago.

Revenues also contracted, ending 18 percent lower at P23 billion from P28 billion on softer electricity prices and reduced power generation output.