Aboitiz Power on track to double capacity

MANILA, Philippines — Aboitiz Power Corp. said it remains on track to more than double its capacity by 2030 despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the power sector.

The company said it is still set on significantly expanding its portfolio of renewable energy power plants in the next 10 years and by 2030, its capacity mix would have been transformed into an almost even thermal to Cleanergy ratio.

“Our targets in the next decade remain the same. We will continue to pursue a major shift in our energy mix by 2030, but while we remain focused on addressing the country’s energy trilemma of energy security, energy equity and environmental sustainability, we will be shifting the balance from ensuring low-cost energy to providing energy from more sustainable sources,” AboitizPower president and CEO Emmanuel Rubio said.

In April, the company announced its plan to double its capacity from 4,432 megawatts to 9,300 MW by 2029.

“We will leverage our learnings from the pandemic to ensure that we carry out our 10-year growth strategy efficiently, effectively and sustainably,” Rubio said.

The company official said AboitizPower would continue to be one of the largest players in the country with the largest installed capacity of renewable energy at 1,540 MW.

The company had high hopes for 2020 as it anticipated the realization of its growth strategy over the next decade.

But three months into what the firm thought would be a stellar year, the COVID-19 crisis brought about an unprecedented impact on the power company, forcing it to transition from significantly growing the business to keeping it afloat, and from expanding the organization to making necessary adjustments in its workforce.

Rubio said the power sector was impacted by the pandemic as seen in the significant decline in energy demand and consumption with the imposition of COVID-related lockdowns.

“Due to the decline in energy demand and consumption, our generation and distribution businesses were heavily affected,” he said.

The company has seen power demand increasing from the levels during the enhanced community quarantine period.

“The grids have already recovered as of the third week of November, but still lower versus last year,” Rubio said.

Despite all this, he said AboitizPower remains committed to advancing business and communities by continuing to provide reliable, reasonably priced, and responsibly produced power solutions even in the new normal.