AC Energy partners with UK firm to power Tawi-Tawi

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala-owned AC Energy Holdings Inc. has teamed up with UK-based Kennedy Renewable + Technology Corp. to power up Tawi-Tawi’s only university with solar power installations.

AC Energy and Kennedy Renewable installed solar panels with a 141-kilowatt (kw) capacity and battery storage at the Mindanao State University (MSU) in Bongao,Tawi-Tawi.

With its thrust to focus on renewable energy development, AC Energy provided technical and financial support while Kennedy Renewable acted as the main developer and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for the project.

Under the partnership, seven campus buildings were outfitted with solar panels, hybrid inverters and batteries — which work in tandem with the local power supply, thereby reducing the impact of electrical disruptions and lowering the school’s cost of electricity.

This will also allow MSU to provide quality education despite the inefficiencies in the current local power situation, as only 30 percent of the province’s population has access to electricity sourced from expensive diesel generators.

“Our company sees great value in not only providing electricity to far-flung regions of our country, but also to critical institutions of growth like MSU. Partnering with Kennedy Renewable and MSU to stabilize their campus’ power supply directly impacts the quality of education that the school’s students will receive,” AC Energy president and CEO John Eric Francia said.

MSU targets to become a center of excellence in fisheries, marine and maritime science and engineering, and oceanography, to produce experts in fisheries and agriculture, which are key drivers of Tawi-Tawi’s local industry.

Kennedy Renewable chairman Philip Ella Juico said the project would promote sustainable development in far-flung areas.

“This installation is a living, although modest, testament of how organizations like AC Energy and Kennedy Renewable + Technology Corp. solve real problems of power shortages that affect critical institutions in remote areas. Many more projects like this will help advance the cause of energy derived from sources that are replenished by nature,” he said.

AC Energy is scaling up its attributable generation capacity to 2,000 megawatts (MW) by 2020, of which renewable energy portfolio is targeted to comprise 1,000 MW of its total capacity.

Currently, it has a total attributable capacity of 1,088 MW. Of this, three are renewable energy projects, namely the 52-MW Northwind Power Development Corp. in Bangui, Ilocos Norte; the 81-MW wind farm in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte through its affiliate NLREC and the 18-MW solar plant in Negros Oriental, a joint undertaking with Bronzeoak Clean Energy Inc.

The Ayala power investment firm is looking to expand some of its existing renewable energy projects when the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and the Green Energy Option (GEO)—mechanisms under the Renewable Energy (RE) Act of 2008—are implemented.

AC Energy is also expanding its footprint in the Southeast Asian region. With partner UPC Renewables Indonesia Ltd., it is developing a 75-MW wind farm project in South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

It also has a 20 percent stake in Star Energy (Salak-Darajat) B.V., which acquired Chevron’s geothermal operations in Indonesia.