Teleperformance taps Aboitiz's clean power unit to energize Philippine offices

MANILA, Philippines — Call center giant Teleperformance Philippines announced it would switch to AboitizPower’s renewable energy portfolio to power some of its offices, marking a critical juncture in the company’s transition to cleaner energy. 

In a statement on Thursday, the outsourcing firm said it will use Cleanergy to power the operations of its Sucat and Bacolod offices. 

Cleanergy is AboitizPower’s brand of renewable energy comprised of hydropower, solar power and geothermal power generated from its various power plants. 

“The transition to renewable energy is one of the easiest steps we can take so long as we have a reliable partner such as AboitizPower to guide us through the process,” Francisco Lara, Teleperformance chief executive officer, said. 

The company is planning to use renewable energy to power its other offices in the years to come. 

The outsourcing giant said that the switch to renewable energy is “a significant contributor in decarbonizing the country” since it claimed they would be one of the first business process outsourcing firms in the country to undertake such actions. 

The switch could pave the way for other economic sectors to follow suit, since using power generated from renewable sources of energy has yet to become mainstream due to the option of using cheap, dirty energy. As it is, BPO firms consume a lot of power since they have round-the-clock operations. 

BPOs are considered to be significant job generators and a crucial source of government revenues. For its part, Teleperformance Philippines employs over 57,000 employees spread out across 23 business sites in the country. 

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas forecasts BPO earnings this year to grow 9% year-on-year, slightly lower compared to the 9.4% annual uptick recorded in 2021. In 2023, annual growth of BPO earnings is projected to slow to 5%.

AboitizPower ventures into wind power

AboitizPower-subsidiary Aboitiz Renewables, Inc. signed a joint venture agreement with Mainstream Renewable Energy to construct a 90-megawatt onshore wind project.

This marks the conglomerate’s first foray into wind power, according to a disclosure sent to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday.

If the joint venture pushes through, AboitizPower’s subsidiary would acquire a 60% stake in Mainstream Renewable Energy’s wind project in Libmanan, Camarines Sur. The latter had been developing the site since 2017. 

AboitizPower is eyeing to build a renewables portfolio capable of generating 4,600 MW by the 2030. 

As it is, the country has been trying to transition into more sustainable forms of energy, considering a coal plant moratorium imposed by the Duterte administration. These days, the energy department is doing its part to spur investments and consumption by increasing the annual renewable portfolio standards from 1% to 2.5%.

The national government hopes that by 2030, renewables would generate 35% of the country’s electricity needs then scale up 50% by 2040. 

Shares in AboitizPower finished trading on Thursday up by 2.58% at P31.8 apiece.